Both of my boys are special needs. Our youngest is on one side of the Autism spectrum and our oldest is on the other. Our oldest, Hudson needs constant input. If you watch him, he will bounce from video game to video game because of the constant input from the games. You push a button; you get a response. Fairly simple process. When he is not playing video games he beatboxes and creates little songs for himself-often times he has a hanger with him when beatboxing to have something in his hands. Also, once he becomes comfortable with someone, he needs constant attention. Not in a bad way, he just likes to be the center of attention. Play a game of Uno with him and he talks, dances, puts down cards in dramatic fashion.
On the other hand, our youngest Noah does his own thing. When he plays it is normally by himself. He will on occasion play with other kids, but it has to be on his terms with simple games like chase or tag. Noah is a runner too (For Noah to calm down or STEM he runs), so when playing tag or chase he will outrun most kids his age. Eventually, the kids tire out and Noah is left to play by himself. Another unique aspect it that when Noah wants to do something-he does it, regardless of what obstacles are around him. So, if he wants to watch an elevator close, he will wait until all the people pass by then watch the door close. Any disruption in his pattern has the potential for a meltdown.
The wife and I have gotten accustomed to these behaviors and have learned to be proactive when we see them teetering on the verge.
I say all that to say this going out to eat is something that we have pretty much stopped doing. The wife and I both know how to cook, so it is preferable to make food at the house.
Our in laws came down from Northern Virginia to hang out for the afternoon. We hadn't planned on cooking or provide lunch, so we went out.
We went through our restaurant checklist: Do they have kid friendly food? Is it kid-friendly? Big difference between PF Chángs and a pizza shop. Is it a stand-alone restaurant? meaning is it surrounded by a parking lot or within a shopping center? That way if the kids need to walk around or beatbox then they can escape for a bit. We found a pizzeria close by that satisfied all of our structural criteria.
Then we get into packing for going out. We fill our bags with knick-knacks, fidget spinners, small activities to get them through the waiting period. Thank goodness I have a 3D printer for I can print all of those things. We brought two STEM toys, two fidget spinners, small puzzle and of course a hanger.
Waiting for the pizza to arrive we went through all of those toys and games by the time the food arrived. It worked so well that our kid's barley ate, because they were too involved with the toys. We were halfway through eating when Hudson asked to go outside. Normally, we would say no and that he can wait until after the meal.
That changed when Hudson told us, (This is emotional maturity right here) "Dad, I need to STEM".
OK, let's go.
Me, Huddy and Noah went outside to the outdoor seating area so they could STEM. Hudson beatboxed while Noah did his sprints. I was able to check the football scores, so all good. After a while everyone came out and we left.
It was one of those perfect storms were everything went right for us.
This is what we go through every time we go out. We do our research, plan for the worse and hope for the best. Many times, we have had worse. Kids act out, we correct them, kids act out, we correct them. Then boom meltdowns.
Today just happen to be a lucky day.
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