For those of you familiar with the TV comedy The Big Bang Theory, you will get this post. For those of you who are not, I seriously recommend checking it out… it’s hilariously funny.
Recently walking around the supermarket with ‘B’ we discovered her favourite ready meal was not as it always is, the packaging had been revamped. I could see her eyes glazing over and in my head I was cursing the supermarket for changing the packaging, how dare they? Didn’t they realise the trouble they had caused? I tried to reassure her that the contents were the same, they had merely changed the packaging. ‘You’d better be right,’ she finally conceded, ‘OK I’ll try it.’ Mmmm… I thought, that was progress, a few years ago the mere hint of a change in the packaging would have caused great confusion followed closely by a Meltdown.
I sighed a huge sigh of relief and she smiled. ‘I’ve just realised,’ she said, ‘I just had a Sheldon moment!’ In a recent episode of The Big Bang Theory, whilst sitting in one of their regular dining places, Sheldon discovers the menu has changed, the order of the foods swapped and some given new names. Not being able to cope with such a drastic change, he makes his friends leave to eat at another regular haunt instead.
They have never actually stated, to my knowledge anyway, that Sheldon has an Autistic Disorder, but we all think it must be so. As a family we have chuckled through many a situation that mirrors ‘B’s quirks, it has helped her alot actually – to lighten up and see the funnier side of the situation. Don’t get me wrong, we take her quirks seriously but sometimes there is such an unwillingness to see it from any other side than her own we get frustrated by her inflexibility. Watching this show has allowed her to view some situations from a different perspective and she can laugh about them.
For instance, Sheldon always has to sit in the same place, his cushion always being exactly as he needs it to be. ‘B’ is like that, she has her spot and doesn’t like anyone else ‘contaminating’ it. She likes routine, Sheldon and his friends sticking to the same day to go to the comic book shop etc. There are so many similarities that a Sheldon Moment is never far away now!
Oh and by the way, the ready meal was not the same… they had changed the recipe too. Didn’t say so on the packaging though! So, we now have to trawl the supermarkets for a replacement, that will have to be as good as the last one!
Till next time,
‘B’s Mum
