Birthday Fun or Back in the Saddle or What a Father Will Do For His Kids

This post was brought to you by a big beefy steer.

First, let me preface this story by saying I am a hippie at heart.  I don't eat a ton of red meat, don't care for country music, or own a truck or any clothing with the American Flag on it.  These are important details later.

Saturday was Dan's 39th birthday.  Though things have been going fairly well around here, we were ready for a night out sans children.  This becomes apparent when you converse more through text messaging than you do in person.  We were all set for a movie, dinner and drinks, but alas, the Thing That Seems to Happen To Us More Than Most People Happened:  the sitter called and cancelled.  Down the list we went, but to no avail.  No uninterrupted conversation for us.

The two of us kind of moped around for a good part of the afternoon, as the "sorry I can't help you" calls rolled in.  We decided to go out anyway, with the kids, to Pizza Luce, a favorite haunt.  I rummaged through a collection of gift cards I have, knowing I had one for Luce, and stumbled across one for Texas Roadhouse that I'd received as a going away present last spring.  The idea struck me that this might make for an interesting night.  Neither of us had been there before.  Now, of all the places I can think of that I would like to visit least in the world, Texas might be first on the list.  A roadhouse might be up in the top ten.  A visit to an establishment like this is probably normalcy for many Americans, but for us it would become kitschy goodness.  Hippies in a Hotbed of Country Lovin' Folks.  I presented the idea to Dan, and with a giggle, he agreed.  I went upstairs and changed into a jean skirt, boots and a funny old pink cowgirl shirt I've held on to for some reason, just to kick it up a notch.

When we arrived to check in on our "call ahead seating," we almost bailed for two reasons.  First, the music and dull roar of the crowd inside made Rowan stop in his tracks.  He absolutely would NOT cross the threshold.   Second, as I peered in, I noticed PEANUT SHELLS all over the floor.  Oh great, I thought, not only are we in for a Sensory Overload experience with Rowan, but we'll get a bonus round of anaphylactic shock with the other kid.  Happy Birthday, Daddy.  Somehow we overcame these obstacles as Rowan was calmed by our reassurance and the presence of the epi-pen in the backpack was verified.

Once we were settled and seated, it actually ended up being the perfect place for our little family.  The music wasn't too loud, and the crowd translated as more of a white noise, which kept Rowan in check.  Plus, our kids could be their normal boisterous selves and we wouldn't have to worry about their noise level.  OH, AND they had KRAFT Macaroni and Cheese on the menu.  FINALLY.  Come on, chefs, kids don't want fancy homemade mac n cheese, they want KRAFT.  A good chance the child will actually eat at this restaurant.

The giant slabs of beef and their accompanying sides of potatoes in various forms were good, Aidan had gravy for the first time, and Rowan ate pretty well, with help from a last minute social story written on our magna-doodle.  (Our server wasn't quite sure what to make of that.)  The best part was the fact that Dan had to sit in the birthday saddle while everyone in our section yelled "YEEE-HAW!"  That was worth the trip right there.  We wrapped up a decent evening, eating out with our kids, a rare thing.

Oh....I almost forgot.  Driving out of the parking lot, Rowan realized he had left his presh-us wooden signs at the table.  I wish I had been a fly on the wall to witness my husband, on hands and knees, searching the floor under the table we'd been at, where there was now seated an Asian family who seemed to speak very little English.  They kept saying "sorry" while Dan tried to explain missing tiny wooden traffic signs.  He found them.

Happy Birthday, Dan.  We love you!

PIZZA!

So far a "thumbs up" on pizza and ice cream.

"Thumbs down" on yogurt, string cheese, regular milk.  We will keep trying!

Less...I mean, More on My Plate

Every kid comes with their own set of gifts and challenges. With Aidan the challenge was the food allergies. Although he's been outgrowing them over the years, at one point he was allergic to peanuts, eggs, soy, dairy, corn, wheat, gluten, peas, fish and tree nuts. I often weigh what we are going through with Rowan against the allergy experience for a little perspective. Indeed, there are months of Aidan's itchy little babyhood that I don't even remember. Just a blur of sleepless nights, stress and a similar feeling of "How will I manage this?" I remember feeling helpless and coming up against a huge lack of resources.  Strangely familiar.

Nowadays you can't throw an epi-pen without hitting a kid with a peanut allergy.  We kind of felt like we were at the beginning of the wave of the childhood food allergy epidemic. I kind of feel like we might be there with sensory processing disorder too. My kids are such groundbreakers, aren't they? Makes a Mom proud.

Anyway, I digress. Today we were given the wonderful and amazing news that Aidan seems to have outgrown his dairy allergy. That leaves us with only peanuts and cashews to avoid. Today Aidan underwent a food challenge, which basically involves sitting in the allergist's office for hours while trying a tiny bits of the offending food, with 20 minutes in between each taste, increasing the amount each time. Aidan did great and seems to have tolerated it well. He drank about 4 ounces of milk with no reaction!

Needless to say, we are so excited! No more soy, rice, almond, or hemp milk. No more fake ice cream, butter, or cheese. No more altering recipes, reading labels. Going out to eat will be easier and much less scary. I won't have to stash special treats for Aidan at school for birthday parties. It will be like a whole new world!  Nonnie already wants to buy him his first ice cream cone at Frosty's in Longville. I can't wait to go to Sammy's Pizza or the Portland Malt Shop! It will be so nice to have one less thing to worry about...and more to offer Aidan.

The news didn't really sink in with him until we got home today. I was listing off a bunch of things he could now have. The thing that really got him was eating french toast with the other kids for hot lunch at school. His little light bulb went off, and he started jumping around and whooping with excitement.

With this news, I received so much of what I needed:  lower grocery bill, less food stress, and just the right kind of perspective.  It is nice to look back at that stress from right after Aidan's tests came back positive, now breathing with a big sigh of relief.  Whew!  We made it.