Let me tell you something. Today has been one of the most stressful days I can remember. I spent the last few hours talking/venting to Lizze about everything weighing me down.
It was my Dad’s surprise 65th birthday. My Mom arranged for a family dinner at PF Changs. This is a pretty nice restaurant and it’s about a 35 minute drive from our house. Not a huge deal.
Lizze was not well today, so I flew solo with the boys and that proved to be a little much for me personally. Elliott was struggling with impulsivity, a lack of a brain/mouth filter and the long wait to eat. While it drove me bonkers, he wasn’t really doing anything wrong. I was just not coping very well.
Gavin did pretty well but his behaviors are overwhelming on a good day, and this was very clearly not a good day for me.
Emmett, aka, Captain Indecisive, struggled with deciding on a drink, let alone what he was going to eat. Emmett struggles tremendously with making decisions and it can get very overwhelming for him, very quickly. Today was no exception.
PF Changs is not Autism/Sensory kid friendly. Everything has some kind of sauce or is mixed with other food items. Many with Autism and/or Sensory Processing Disorder can’t deal with things like this. Frankly, PF Changs is like the absolute perfect storm and there’s about a 100% chance of meltdowns.
To add to what pony said, would pulling up and looking over the menu beforehand help? It might be easier for Emmett if he didn’t have a time limit to decide.
I know this is hind site, but why not just have them order off the kids menu, the sweet and sour chicken with the sauce on the side. Then it is essentially a chicken nugget? Maybe keep that in mind for next time That way you aren’t wasting a huge chunk of change on something they won’t eat.
Monday is another day. Hope you get plenty of sleep.
Thanks Becky. I’m feeling a little better today.