I Scream. You Scream. We All Scream for Ice Cream!

I am in complete denial that we are going to get wintry weather tomorrow. Come on spring! On Saturday, we had four happy kids wearing shorts in anticipation of a warm spring like day. On the top of Irina's mind was bringing Daddy to go see the "emuls" (animals) and eating ice cream. It was the set up for the perfect day.

We have never taken Irina to an ice cream shop before. When she requested ice cream, we assumed she knew what to expect. Ummm... not so much. Here is what we forgot: 1) She is still learning to make decisions and does not do well with lots of choices. 2) She does not do well under pressure. 3) A lot of people in a small enclosed space talking excitedly about their ice cream choices is sensory overload.

Our sweet girl crumpled. She was adamantly against leaving the ice cream shop, adamantly against me choosing a flavor for her and adamantly against choosing a flavor for herself. So we stood in the corner and I hugged her while she cried and expressed various complicated emotions. Eventually we were able to comfort, calm and soothe our little butterfly. My heart was breaking and I felt foolish for not anticipating how overwhelming this would be for her.

In the end she quickly pointed to a flavor and buried her head in Daddy's chest. We found a seat and she told me that she had never had an ice cream cone before and never been to an ice cream shop. Once seated with her cone, her happy demeanor returned. Can you see the smile behind the cone? I promise you I didn't pull out my camera until I knew she was recovered.

Here she is watching Daddy teach her the finer points of ice cream cone eating. He is an expert!

In the end, I'm pretty sure Irina is glad we went to get ice cream. Sometimes I forget how many new things she is experiencing because she is settling in so well. This was a good reminder for me to tread carefully as we try new things.