Last week was one of Alex’s first successful restaurant experiences. And by a successful restaurant experience I mean that he basically stayed seated in his chair and ate his restaurant meal unassisted. He is 3 years and 8 months old.
Over the past year we didn’t go to any restaurants because of Covid, so to be fair, Alex has not had a whole lot of practice. But after Olma and I were both vaccinated, we have slowly started venturing out into the restaurant world again. Alex has found the process of going to restaurants still a bit unsettling.
We have to be pretty selective about the restaurants that we choose to visit. Would we be comfortable? Would Alex be welcome there? Would a rambunctious 3-year-old with Down Syndrome stand out in this place or would he be mostly ignored and blend in with the crowd? Is the restaurant too noisy? (Alex doesn’t tolerate too much volume in any room.) Will we bother other diners or is there enough space for us to move away from others a bit? Is there anything on the menu that Alex will eat or do we have to bring food for him? Are the tables arranged in a way that would allow us to swap watching and feeding him?
We have had several experiences when after ordering our food we had to pack up our things and leave for one reason or another, so we are never sure that we will actually be eating at the restaurant. We want eating to be pleasant and enjoyable, but if it is not, we don’t really try to push through it at that moment. There are other opportunities to focus on eating (and socializing). Alex has feeding therapy every week, but I haven’t been concentrating on food play as much as I should.
Last week Alex and I were at a local park. We finished playing around noon, so I stopped by a local hotdog joint (Lil’ Guss’s in Grottoes) that I had never visited before. My family was always a fan of Jess’s Quick Lunch in downtown Harrisonburg before it closed, and this is a relative-owned establishment. I knew I was taking a chance, but everything for this visit was in our favor – we could sit at an outside table, there was no one immediately beside us, it was quiet, and they had mac and cheese and milk shakes on the menu!
In the above photo, Alex looks like he is reading the menu, but he’s just flipping though the pages for fun. He doesn’t read yet although he could point to pictures on a menu to indicate what he wanted.
It all went far better than I expected. We felt very welcomed, the waitress was helpful and attentive, and the food was delicious. Alex behaved perfectly appropriately and he ate his meal mostly unassisted. I think he really enjoyed the experience, so I think we need to go back again….chocolate milkshake…chili dogs…
