Hudson, The Library and A Funny Looking Man

I took the Little P's to the library today for a change of scenery and to scope out some dirt bike books. Everything was going well. Hudson wasn't running around like wild man. Addison managed to pull only half of the books off the shelves and we even found a great book about dirt bikes. We were headed to the check out counter when all of a sudden Hudson let out the loudest ear piercing scream I had ever heard. I stopped in horror thinking his skin was melting off his body when I looked over and saw a group of disabled adults. "Oh no," I thought to myself. "Please tell me he's not going to...."
"A funny looking man!!" "I'm scared of the funny looking man!!"
That's what my 3 year old yelled out for the entire library to hear. He was screaming so loud, it scared poor Addison and she stared wailing right along with him. Not only was Hudson screaming, he was so scared of that poor man that he was trembling from head to toe. So...I proceeded to do what any other rational mother with 2 screaming children in a quiet library would do. I dropped my books and ran!! As soon as we got to the door, Hudson got himself together and asked to go back in and get his dirt bike book. I put aside my embarrassment and calmly walked back in like nothing had happened. As we got to the end of the lobby, Hudson saw the entire group of disabled adults walking towards us. Yep. You guessed it! More terror filled screams, tears and pointing. I pulled him into the bathroom which, thankfully, was only 3 steps away from where we were standing. I thought we could hide in there until the group made it out to the parking lot. I also took the opportunity to explain that God made everybody different and that just because somebody looks different doesn't make them scary. As I was handing out my words of wisdom, a blind lady from the group walked into the bathroom with one of her caretakers. All my wise words must have fallen on deaf ears because Hudson let out a blood curling scream along with the words "A funny looking lady!! Oh, how I wanted to curl up and die. If looks could kill, the blind lady's caretaker put me 6 feet under. I mouthed a heart felt, "I'm so sorry" and ran for the door. Of course as soon as we opened it, we were standing right in the middle of the group of people I was so desperately trying to avoid. I told Hudson to close his eyes and we ran for the checkout counter. I thought that if they were out of sight, I could distract Hudson with his dirt bike book long enough for the group of adults to make it out the door. Not the case. We picked up our books where I had dropped them, sat Hudson (who by the way was still bawling) on the counter, and tried not to notice everyone in the library staring at me. From the way Hudson was acting I was so sure they all thought I told my children that disabled people ate small children. The sweet librarian told me I could take the kids out the back, through the employee entrance. As soon as we got the parking lot, guess who we saw? Yep! The same group. For their sakes, I hope they were all deaf or at least out of their minds enough to not notice that my child was screaming and pointing at them. As we drove away, Hudson told me that he never wanted to go back to the library again. I happily agreed. I don't want to show my face there anytime soon!

By the way: I'm laughing to myself as I'm reading this. Oh the joys of having a 3 year old :)