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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Garage Sale,Grocery Store Etiquette


Is there such a thing as Garage Sale Etiquette? http://www.drdaveanddee.com/etiquette.html

This is a picture out my front door-- apparently there is a block long garage sale-- happening today!
The street is not very wide so it has been kinda funny to see people and cars try to navigate the small space there is ...  It got me to thinking, if you weren't apart of the block long garage sale-- but you just happened to have stuff on your front yard-- how would people react? Would they just walk into your yard and start picking things up? And then how would you as the homeowner react? Would you run outside yelling and screaming?  What would happen if you were cleaning out the garage and yet people thought your stuff was  apart of the sale?

Garage Sales are such a fluid thing-- they often don't have an official, beginning middle and end.--
{Well at least that is my observation.}-- I would imagine that there are people-(not me)- who will start a sale at 8 am on the dot and stop that sale at 5pm.-- But I really think that doesn't happen very often. 
When you go to a garage sale do you discuss,out loud ~ what you like or don't like do you whisper to your neighbor-- "This price is too high?". 
So, many things about a garage sale are not clearly stated-- should I dicker/bicker about the price? Should I ask to try out the item? Should I even touch the item?

I would imagine that all these questions are much like the questions that plague our SPD kids -- and even our regular kids have -- navigating the "social world"!

I find myself doing a ton of pre-talking before we go somewhere-- lately I haven't been pre-talking too much-- I have a head cold and I am just trying to "get through" life. 

We went grocery shopping yesterday and I forgot to talk with the kids about how I wanted the groceries packed in the bags...  I had a moment of anger and frustration when Jessica was just putting items in...."willy nilly" Shane was just happy to keep pressing the button to move the conveyor belt -- he would take the  items off the belt and then press the button again.

I really think that if I had not been dealing with a head cold I would of managed the situation better-- .
I didn't yell or scream at the kids but I moved them both out of the way and finished the sacking of the groceries all by myself. Later after we were home, I thought about how I had just let a teach-able moment pass -- I could of done a MUCH better job of pre-talking and then showing what I wanted done.

I was annoyed that I let the moment pass-- I was also annoyed that I let others' who seemed to be SUPER impatient motivate me to just do it myself.  

Why do we have to be in a hurry to do everything?? Why can't we just slow down and breathe?
I wonder if these questions are the ones that prevent our SPD kiddos from responding quickly to a request?
Maybe if I slow down my expectations--
 maybe that will allow my children the time they NEED to comply with a request?
anyway.... just thinking... and wishing this head cold would STOP holding me back! .... geez I'm impatient! :)
haha ha

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

All so human my friend..! We can't always be perfect at every moment. The kids will also learn that from you and that is the reality of life. Yet I agree on the pace of things. Though when you don't feel well sometimes you also just want to be done with some things too. The fact that you even thought of it and that it could have been a learning moment is amazing in itself when you feel ichy but you will remember it later too and go from there I know. You are awesome. Love you. Me

missykade said...

You are too funny! I felt like I was there! I love reading your posts!

Don't forget to enter our newest giveaway for a 10-pack DVD boxed set from Baby Genius.

Lucas's Journey with Sensory Processing Disorder
http://lucasjourneyspd.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Sending upper-respiratory-relief sympathy! Hope your cold has gone by now.

You know, even by setting the children aside and doing it yourself, they learned something. Just a different something than if they had done the sacking themselves.

Love your analogy for the rules of garage sales. Hope no one stole stuff from your yard!
Barbara