Getting paid to shop at Garden Ridge.

How good can life get. Yesterday I substituted in Special Ed again. Thursdays are the days they go on their CBI....Community Based Instruction.
Garden Ridge was our destination for the day. Each of the four kids had a vocabulary word to look for. They were words like blanket and pumpkin. Yes, I got a comfy ride on one of those short school buses.
Our group was made up of the four kids and four teachers. You really do need that one on one ratio with them. The biggest and I mean biggest kid is an 8 year old with down syndrome. I thought he would love seeing all the Holiday stuff...nope, he was scared to death of Santa. As soon as we walked in the doors, there were HUGE blow-up Santa's. He started screaming so we turned down and an isle to find more giant Santa's riding on rocking horses and on merry-go-rounds. The poor kid fell to the ground screaming, so it took all of us to pick him up and get him into a cart. He is such a sweet kid I was shocked and felt so bad for him. Me just being a mom/substitute thought we needed to hit the road out of Christmas....no, one of the teachers grabbed a small Santa and kept telling him to say no, no Santa. It seemed mean to me at first but by the end of the day and the whole experience I see the whole picture now.
The day was fun. The kids really enjoyed seeing all the different colored flowers, all the pumpkins, feeling some of the feather ornaments we found. They tried on lots of funny holiday hats. We found soft blankets and really poky plants. And last but not least the CANDY isle!!!! Boy do they love candy! We bought some candy but had to go eat lunch first. To Wendy's we went. Those kids enjoyed some nuggets and french fries. But our big 8 year old ate a grilled chicken salad and a diet coke. He tells you "I want Coke."
I am so impressed with my kids school and our county for the love and care they put into these special needs kids. My day was so enjoyable I can't wait until they need me again.