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Now Reading: A Rough Restaurant Outing w/ the KIng :(

A Rough Restaurant Outing w/ the KIng :(

Saturday 3:21pm — We just got home from a pizzeria restaurant with Kyle. This is the place that 3 weeks ago his majesty ate pizza for the first time in 4 years. That time he shocked us all and had a grand ol’ time. 
So because we want to keep up his love for pizza and because it seemed like he’ll only eat pizza from this one establishment wifey had it in her head that we should make a visit to that particular pizzeria restaurant a semi-regular Saturday afternoon tradition. 
So we went back today. 
And did we capture lighting in a bottle again today?
Nope… today’s restaurant experience was a total f&$king disaster. 
He wouldn’t eat anything except a bowl of pitted black olives. 
Fine, he didn’t want pizza. Disappointing yes. 
But instead of watching his iPad or reading one of the 5 books we brought in he instead proceeded to attempt to beat us up for the rest of the meal. 
And the wife and I just sat there, me next to him, wifey across the table from him deflecting his slaps/blows while we attempted to eat our pizza and pretending as best we could that all was normal. 
God knows what this looked like to the rest of the customers in this crowded restaurant. I half expected somebody to take pity on us and pay for our meal. LOL
But wifey and I handled better than we used to. We both just sat there and ate our salad and pizza. 
Cuz the wife and I love this place. And we really were jonesing for some pizza.   Sometimes our kids with autism just need to learn to suck it up and deal, ya know? 
I mean the morning was all about him. We went to his swim and music classes, we watched his shows in the car.
And then we forced him to sit in a restaurant for 35 minutes so that we could enjoy our lunch. What awful parents we are!  LOL. 
So we deflected his blows and attempted to enjoy our meal. 
But all in all it was pretty rough. At one point I moved my chair so that we both were sitting across from him since it was harder for him to reach us. 
Gosh what that must’ve looked like. People in the restaurant were probably looking for the ABC 20/20 “What Would You Do?” cameras. LOL 
But wifey and I must have horrible short term memories because I guarantee that we’ll attempt to go back there again in about a month of so. 
I take that back. It’s not because we have horrible short term memories. 
It’s because we’re stubborn and we are not gonna let this kid completely rule our lives.  
Again he’s gotta suck it up once in a while, no?
THE END. 

Written by

Frank Campagna

I’m a 48 year old neurotypical dad with a 14 year old son with severe, non-verbal autism & epilepsy. I created this blog to rant about autism & epilepsy while celebrating my son who I affectionately call “the king” :-).


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15 People Replies to “A Rough Restaurant Outing w/ the KIng :(”

  1. Anonymous

    test 4/16 153

  2. Laugh out loud funny! ?? thanks for your humerous view on such a ? subject!!

  3. Anonymous

    Good for you – yes he DOES have to suck it up and let his parents eat in peace. You are being kinder to him by making him wait, in my humble opinion. You were prepared, you brought him things to do/play with/read, you took him somewhere he was OK with before AND you didn't make him eat. Hardly cruelty!! Hope the next trip goes better, but hey if not..still finish your pizza guys 🙂

  4. Anonymous

    I'd hope that for every rude stare or comment (how dare people!) you may get, there are 10 times more people briefly looking and thinking "wow, look at those fine parents, they must love their kid and value these nights out just as much if not more than we do"…and then looking away and getting back to eating pizza!

  5. Anonymous

    Way to hang in there!!!! Yes – sometimes we have to make it about us – every one out of ten times… 🙂

  6. I don't know why–your wife must be the calmest person—but the side of me that still is affected by public stares and comments would steal away to the back, let the owner or manager know that we appreciated not being thrown out and ask if we could come back….again. I admire you for making him realize that he'll have to learn self-control…eventually. You guys have mastered the art of self control….that I do admire much!

  7. Anonymous

    He has to suck it up, like you said. Don't allow his to rule your life. My son is 21 yrs old now, and that's the same approach I started back when he was diagnosed at 2 1/2 yrs. old. His teachers have told me through the years that he handles change pretty good taking into account the severity of his autism. I started him on medication when he started with epileptic seizures at 18 yrs old. And have No regrets.

  8. Anonymous

    The only reason I'm laughing is because it didn't happen to me today. Sorry….I know it's not funny but I often think to myself…."what do people think of us?" One time my son ran up to a strange man on the beach as he was leaving the water and pinched him under his armpits…..LOL…I thought I was gonna have a stroke. We went back to the beach the next week. Keep up the good work!

  9. do you no why he hit you like that .maybe if you go there enough it will become part of his routin on sat

  10. Wish y'all live closer so we could all help ea other we face the same ordeal

  11. Anonymous

    i am so sorry for your horrific day out. May i ask, did you guys prepare Kyle for the outing? Did you reiterate the plan over and over? What i found useful, is to limit his outings per day. On a day that i want to introduce him to a new environment we will not go anywhere else that day. Although the family has been to this restaurant there were now expectations placed on him. Which for anyone is hard. A suggestion. ….. dont pay attention to him as he eats. If you and wife were looking at him waiting on him to do as last time that may have unnerved him. When my son eats i look away. And try and make it as natural as possible.

    1. Anonymous

      Also was he extremely hungry and it took long for the pizza to arrive? To go out as a family i usually call ahead and have Jr food prepared in advance or have a appetizer waiting when we get there. For years we had to take our son to all you can eat restaurants for he never understood that that the food had to be cooked. My main advice…..dont compliment, act happy when he eats, and dont look at him as he eats. Recreate a comfortable environment where Kyle feels safe enough to try new things. He want to…..he just dont want to be pressured to do it. Ex. I used to blow on my son food and take it away if its too hot. I would be soooo protective. But i had to realize, survival instinct will kick in. Now, i serve everything to him hotttt! I warn him of it. It onlt takes one burnt tongue…..before my son realized how to test for hotness. Give Kyle space family. He is begging for it with every hit.

  12. We only have one pizza place we go to. If the iPad is ignored we are stuck with "all done, all done, all done". It wouldn't be so bad but he paces right by other people's tables so one of us sacrifices and goes to the car.

  13. Anonymous

    Been there, and will do it again and again because just like you and your wife, kids gotta suck it up and we like to eat out. 🙂

  14. Amen!! Keep trying! That's all we can do!