Our everyday life gives us much opportunity to TRY AGAIN when LuLu has trouble navigating a situation. Yesterday found us back at Target...this time for groceries and a few travel necessities, since I was leaving unexpectedly to go to my grandmother's funeral.

LuLu stated up front that she didn't "want" to look at the toys this time, so she wouldn't melt down. "Good," I replied, since I wasn't about to go back to the toy section for a redo of the day before.

But, searching for the right grocery items along with a list of other necessities started to exceed her patience and the grunting started. I calming asked, "So is this the part of the day when we leave this full cart of groceries and stuff and go home?" That was enough to give her a chance to re-think things and pull it back together. AND SHE DID!

No meltdown. On the way out of the store, I rewarded her ability to pull it back from the brink with a pair of ladybug socks. (I don't always reward, and definitely don't if the reward is demanded. But it made sense to cement this awesome achievement with a little prize!)

Sadly, the ladybug socks were almost immediately eaten by our crazy dog last night. But, the important thing was LuLu's response. "Oh, no...I shouldn't have left them where he could get them." And no meltdown!!!!!