Sometimes it takes a community to support a parent

Monday night will find us at the local library with our granddaughter, this is our weekly activity with her.  Grandpa sits and reads the paper while grandma and Ruth sit and read together. 

We started with activity on January 24, 2017 and we know this because we have kept tract of each book she reads in grandma’s journal she has read 271 books as of tonight.

Over the past year we have come know the Monday night regulars like ourselves.  There is the math tutor and his three students who come and go sitting at the table next to where we read.  The lady that sits by the window on her computer who has just started to say hello to us, and the other men that Grandpa knows who come into the library to read the newspaper.  And there are the people who come occasionally, like the night we met the little boy we will call Bobby.  

Ruth and I had just comfortably settled into the reading couch and had finished our first book when Bobby, his older brother, mother and baby sister came into the youth reading area.  

Bobby and his brother sat down at the two children’s computers and their mother began to settle herself into one of the children’s chair when Ruth jumped up and said she could have the couch we were sitting on.  She smiled and accepted Ruth’s offer.  While Ruth and I took the children’s chairs around the reading table beside the computer station.  After a little while Bobby’s grandmother arrived and his mother left for parts unknown.

All was quiet, well as quiet as an active library can be when all of a sudden Bobby’s chair was thrown into my chair knocking me half onto the floor and there standing at the computer was a ragging Bobby as his grandmother in shock and embarrassment sat holding his baby sister totally gobsmacked.

Bobby’s brother was the one to took control and calmed his brother down by showing how to complete a task on the computer that clearly had frustrated and angered Bobby, however his grandmother was now demanding he apologize to me.  Bobby stood with his arms closed across his chest stone faced and turned away from his grandmother and me and I realized Ruth was now very interested in what would happen next because she also can be over come with rage.

I picked up Bobby’s chair, settled myself in my chair again and said so Bobby could hear, 

“Chair you are going to have to stay at this table until you learn not to go jumping around and knocking people over”,

Ruth giggled, Bobby’s brother smiled and Bobby’s grandmother said nothing which was the right thing for her to do.

I asked Ruth to keep reading and before she could start Bobby said to his grandmother I need a chair.  I quickly turned to Bobby and said that I was sorry the only chair available was on a time a out until it learned not to hit people.

Bobby’s grandmother smiled and whispered to Bobby let the lady know the chair did not mean to hit her and this Bobby could do and I gave him the chair.

Bobby returned to the computer with an occasional glace back at me, and we continued reading.  Later Bobby’s mother returned with a pile of books on Autism and asked her mother if everything had been ok while she was gone.

Bobby looked at me and said with a smile on his face "the chair jumped up and hit that lady, it said it was sorry, everything has been good Mommy."

I just smiled and Ruth and I continued reading.

Grandma Snyder

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