Sunday, June 24, 2012

Awkward meal out...again

First off, let me put out a disclaimer: I am in no way making fun of or light of people with differences or disabilities. As with many friends of ours, they have said one cannot predict what happens in the womb, at birth or as a result of life's circumstances. With that, here is our story for today.

Camp check in was this afternoon for S, so we packed up her stuff and headed to one of our favorite places in the world. This is the first year she has gone without a friend from church in her cabin, so it was a bit daunting for all of us. On the way there and on the way back home(an hour each way), the boy talked the whole time. If I hadn't given birth to him, I'd swear he was an alien who took breaths through his eyes. He loves to talk. This can get exhausting very quickly. Very quickly. Because I had spent the majority of my time packing, I had not prepared a dinner meal for us. The kids, thrilled with this knowledge, happily accompanied us to a restaurant. The whole time we were being seated, ordering our drinks and waiting for our drinks the boy talked. And talked. And talked. He wanted us to play Truth or Dare and we obliged. Then he said, "Ooh. Ask me truth or dare!". The hub asked, he said "Dare" and it was on. B said, "I dare you to not talk for five minutes.". Both G and I snickered, because we knew it was close to impossible. He gave it a great try. When he got desperate to communicate, he wildly gestured...moving his fingers in strange patterns and trying to mouth words. Being in a booth in the back, the boy and I had the view of the restaurant while the others had the view of the televisions. The hub and G got up to make a trip to the restrooms. I kept watching the boy, smile on my face, finding him very funny as he gestured wildly so as not to fail the dare. Then, it happened. Have you ever felt like someone was staring at you only to find you were correct? I looked up to survey the restaurant and saw a family staring back at us, somewhat annoyed. I wasn't sure the reason for the attitude until they went back to talking...in sign language. My head dropped and there was a tug on my sleeve. The boy was gesturing again, trying to get his point across. I told him to start talking, please start talking. He wouldn't because I didn't issue the dare. The people kept staring at me, dagger looks galore. When B returned, I sent him a text to stop the dare because we were getting the stink eye. Finally, he started talking again and the people stopped staring so much. Way to go, parents of the year! We had a talk in the car about being sensitive and never making fun of people with differences. I know the boy wasn't making fun, but we needed to have a talk anyway. Just another stupid experience out in public. Sigh.


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2 comments:

  1. I have a talker, too! And when he isn't talking he is making siren sounds or donkey sounds!!! I know how exhausting it is :(. Especially when one is an advanced age like me :)

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  2. Oh my gosh! I feel your pain. I have two children that talk All. Day. Long. Nonstop, and it's basically all questions or requests. I drink at dinner every night. Lol. Especially this summer, when Dan walks in the door, i have him watch me take my little time card and just clock right out. He knows I am done. I usually don't start talking again until the kids are in bed!

    And, oh, what a story. It wasn't even like you could go over to those people and explain what he had been doing, because they would have totally never believed you!

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