We took Samang to the beach on Friday, and except for a brief period when she screamed to let us know that she hates sunscreen being applied to her wiggly little body, we had a kickass time. And then some self-righteous prick from the Parks Department came over to tell us that we couldn’t have a tent on the beach. The tent in question was this, which at least three lifeguards and two other Parks Department flunkies had walked past and ignored prior to Officer Prick. It’s not a tent, dude, it’s a baby shelter. No adults can sleep in it, we were obviously using it to keep the baby out of the sun while she napped. So we packed up early, made a stop at my house and a stop at Jordana’s house so all the adults could shower and get the sand off our bodies, and then headed down to Coney Island for the fireworks.
And then we made a miraculous discovery. Samang likes fireworks. We had put a lightweight blanket over her ears to protect her hearing from the explosions, and that part she didn’t like. She had just screwed up her face to start crying when the first firework went off. She opened her eyes to see what it was and was spellbound for the next twenty minutes. I spent more time watching her than I did the fireworks display because it was just so much fun to see her enjoying them. We may have to take her back this week to see them again.
The Parks Department flunkies may not have been flunkies at all but people who had honed their skills in deciphering who the real park upsetters are: the public drunks or the offending baby shelterers. The flunkies may be achievers when it comes to filtering the real offenders from the…from the responsible parents.
On a serious note, if Samang likes fireworks, there’s probably no way that she has autism. Even though it’s rare in girls, anyway, most autistic kids cannot stand the boom-booms. Just another cutting edge observation from Dr. Kendraspondence, pediatrician to the stars (of blogs).
I can second what Kendra says. Grasshopper likes fireworks but will not watch them unless we bring the “Mickey Mouse ears” to wear. He does not like the loud noises.
Those park cops suck! Why don’t they get a life and harrass people acutally distracting from the “beach experience”. I’m sure no one cared that the baby was in a little shelter.