Holy swag Batman!!



Cam looking way too typical for a special needs event.

 Last year by chance I happened to be chatting with a colleague of mine who works for an Autism group here in the city. She had met both my kids and although at the time neither was diagnosed with Autism she felt strongly that we were probably walking down that path. She just so happened to have been given some guest passes to an event held by the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede called Aggie Days. This causes a lot of confusion in our house because we have a dog named Augie ("Og-ee"). I can't tell you how many times I've ticked my kids off by calling it Augie Days...."Hello rigid children".....but that's another story. For those of you that do not live in Calgary you may have heard of the Calgary Stampede and assumed that this was a once a year event. While that is true the people who put on the Stampede also do a lot of other activities during the year. One of them is Aggie Days. It's part giant petting zoo and part convention but with a kid and family focus. Basically anything even remotely related to agriculture can be in this event. So I was handed these tickets to Aggie Days last year and since Camryn loves animals so much I figured we'd give it a shot.

Now I will say that Aggie Days is open to the general public too but we were invited to a special early entrance for kids with special needs. It's not quite like getting into Disneyland early but for us it's close. Because Camryn tends to get easily overwhelmed by crowds this was appealing. Between my two kids we've had to walk out of the Stampede, multiple movies, a Raffi concert, the Children's Festival (twice), and countless other things all due to one of them being completely "done" sensory wise. I was happy to be able to go at a time of day when Camryn was still likely to be functioning and with other families who won't assume I'm the worst parent on the planet because my 9 year old typical looking daughter starts crying.

Despite being there with other special needs families I always have a bit of a knot in my stomach at any new event. There is no way to predict whether we will have a great time or whether I will be sitting on the floor in the middle of a busy walkway with a sobbing child while people flash me dirty looks. So with a bit of trepidation we attended this special event. Camryn enjoyed herself so much that I figured this would have to be an event we did again. About 2 months ago we got an invitation to come back. Woohoo.


Cam with her free breakfast she would only poke with a fork. Apparently putting the sausage between the pancakes makes it "not good" anymore.

So today was the big day. Aggie Days part deux. Camryn was so excited that she could hardly contain herself as we drove to the Stampede grounds at 7:00am. I am certainly grateful that we get to attend this event but I could have done without waking up at 6 on a Saturday. However just watching Camryn's face light up this morning when she realized what day it was made it worth while. We found our way into the building and were greeted by a team of staff and volunteers who made it their mission to give us a great day. Their patience was endless as they asked each and every kid what their name was. Now I will say that there were children in wheelchairs, some tethered to service animals, some who were non-verbal and used communication devices, and many who nobody would pick out of a crowd....like Camryn....well unless they were in a big crowd that caused a meltdown that is. Each child got their very own personalized name tag on a bright green lanyard and a bag full of goodies before we even entered the event. I had gotten smart from last year and brought a backpack. Camryn had gotten smart and brought her hat with a brim to block out the bright lights. Aren't we the professional Aggie Day-ers?

By far Camryn's favourite part is the live animals. They have horses, cows, newly hatched chicks, pigs, sheep dogs, rabbits, and goats. Amazingly there is very little "barn" smell which suits me just fine. Last year the animals were just about the only thing Camryn would even look at. In fact I think we spent more than half our time with her sitting in the hay as the baby goats climbed all over her while she giggled maniacally. This year she certainly still preferred the animals but actually spent time at interactive booths on bugs, crops, water, and recycling. She even asked one of the presenters a question about a non-animal topic. I just about fell over on the concrete floor in surprise.

Doing a non-animal activity.

I can't say enough about the group that puts this event on. They are so lovely to the kids. It's nice to have people that will get up even earlier than we did and many of them doing it for free. Camryn can handle life way better than she once could but that doesn't mean we don't still face our challenges. It's nice to have a place that "normal" families would actually go and I don't need to worry when my kid is flapping her hands or getting overwhelmed. The only tearful moment today was when the science lady gave her a green pencil when there was a bin full of blue ones just sitting there.....Seriously lady just give her the damn blue pencil would you? We don't care that the green ones change color. Baby steps.

All in all it was a great day. We got more swag than I ever expected and we had a blast. Camryn got to indulge in a passion of hers and I got to feel like we were a family that doesn't worry about meltdowns, hand flapping, picky eating, or even crying over the blue pencils left behind. Yeehaw!!



Some of the swag we walked away with.