The sweetest thing since chocolate chips

It was a rough morning today. Both kids are cranky pants, it's raining and I'm tired. Not a good combination in our house. I couldn't wait for 10:40am because that meant school was out and lunch/naps are right around the corner. It has been unseasonably warm here so while it wasn't raining, I parked the car and walked up to the school to get Wes. His aide brought him outside and had a small envelope in her hands. On it was written Wesley in a child's handwriting (backwards letters with some small and some large). C (his aide) told me a classmate was at the sticker center today with some new Thomas and Friends stickers. He told one of the teachers that he wanted to give it to Wesley because he knew Wes loved Thomas. Here is the picture...

So I took off with the kids down the walkway to catch up with the mom and thank her son for the wonderful gesture he made. Wes was crying and Casey slipped out of the stroller (don't ask) as I dragged the kids along. We finally caught up with her and I showed her the picture her son, Z, had made. I told her that Wes has autism and making friends doesn't come to him at all. She was surprised and told me her son has speech issues as well as a hard time making friends due to social delays. She thanked me for telling her. I of course started to tear up and told her we would be going home to make a thank you card for this little boy.

Without saying, that made my entire day. I couldn't express enough how much I appreciated her son acknowledging my child. I don't get to see how Wes interacts with kids in school or how they interact with him. My fear has been that he is in his own world or working with his aide and never socializing with the other kids. I know that's not true, somewhere inside my brain. Today was proof that he is making connections in some small way to other kids. A new step as been reached.