Just an Ordinary Night

I admit last night I was tired. After two hours of talking about safari animals with Jacob, I was done. Love my son, but sometimes it is almost impossible to fake excitement about elephants. One of Jacob's favorite things to do is to act out and make up his own video games about animals. He gets out his bucket of plastic animals, asks me countless questions, so I can "win" the animals to put in my make believe zoo. And he definitely knows when I am not paying attention and is quick to point out if I do not have enough points to win certain animals.

I was over it. I knew the night would continue the same if we didn't come up with a plan, so I suggested going out for ice cream. A change of venue would surely help Jacob forget about animals for a little while. So we headed out for frozen yogurt at one of the new trendy yogurt shops where you pick your own yogurt and toppings and pay by weight. We had never been here before, and I should have known better.

Usually when going somewhere new, we prep Jacob and explain what we will be doing, what it will look like, what his role will be, that type of thing. Well, we have been out for ice cream hundreds of times, so I didn't give it any thought that this time would be different.

We walked in and checked out all the options. Ooooooooo........so many choices and Jacob was thrilled because they had his favorites, cookies and cream and brownie batter!! Plus brownies to put on top along with so many other favorite treats. What I should have realized was Jacob was viewing this as an ice cream buffet! He didn't understand that he would be getting one cup and it wouldn't be completely full. If you've ever been there, the cups are huge! I'm guessing they want you to overfill since it is a pay by weight place. Jacob decided on 3 flavors, and my husband helped him with the first. I'm getting my own yogurt, when I recognize there is a problem. Jacob is mad because he wants his cup filled. My husband is doing his best to explain, but I knew by the look on Jacob's face he wasn't even hearing him. So what does Jacob do? He runs. Out the door carrying his bowl of frozen yogurt.

Yes, my son is a runner.

When Jacob gets mad, frustrated, or scared, he runs. Sometimes he runs with wild abandonment with no turning back. It terrifies me. When he is fleeing, there is no rational thinking on his part. There have been times when he has ran straight out into traffic. His only thought at the time is to get out of whatever situation is making him uncomfortable. I remember at the age of two we had taken him to the local farmer's market. Suddenly we could hear the train coming. At the time we were just starting to be in tune with Jacob's quirks and fears, so we were caught off guard when he took off running. Except he wasn't running away from the train, but right for it! He was two and had no idea where that noise was coming from, he just knew he had to get away. So we have learned from experience to be ready to bolt at a second's notice. Last year at the beginning of baseball season, I think I was chasing him almost every time he got up to bat. If the crowd cheered too loud, or if he got out, or if he didn't get as big of a hit as he wanted, or if my husband didn't throw him a good pitch, Jacob would run to first base and keep on going. There I was chasing after him, yelling for him to stop, and praying he would stop before getting to the main road or I ran out of breath. Thankfully by Fall Baseball Jacob had outgrown most of that. I'm thinking I may need to start training for this upcoming baseball season just in case he decides to start running again.

These are the moments I hate Asperger's. What should have been a fun night, had turned into anything but. As everyone in the yogurt shop is watching my husband and son outside the window, I am trying to clarify to the server that Jacob was upset and would be back in just a moment. I consider telling him about Jacob, but am lacking the energy at the moment to explain my son. I can tell by his face that he is as unsure of the situation as the other people in the shop. No, we are not frozen yogurt thieves. We don't hit a new ice cream joint each night and run out without paying. My son has Asperger's. And ordinary things are far from ordinary in our life. Next time maybe we will just stick with the DQ.