Seafood anyone?

Just a quick post just because I am so proud of my boy. I have told him so many times since yesterday that DC finally said, “Mom, write story”.
I don’t know if he asked me to ‘write story’ because he is proud of himself too or that he just wants me to stop telling him every 5 minutes, but either way, his wish is my command.
DC and his dad gave me a gift certificate for Mother’s Day for a seafood restaurant. The restaurant is very popular I am told. I had never been there, but DC has been there with his Dad and a couple of other times on field trips with an organization where he participates in many of their activities.
The restaurant is about an hour away, so we decided to make a day if it.
For a kid that loves to go ‘out to eat’ almost as much as he loves going to the bookstore, he didn’t seem all that excited when we finally arrived. Also, for a kid who remembers EVERYTHING, he didn’t seem to recognize it and told me more than once in the parking lot that he did not want to go there (I think he was a little bit out of sorts to begin with yesterday).
Once inside, he saw that they had cheeseburgers on the menu and he also seemed to now recognize the place so he stopped telling me he didn’t want to stay there. DC’s standard order anywhere we go is: wings, cheeseburger, french fries and coke. I could see they did not have wings on the menu so I was surprised when he ordered “fried chicken” with his cheeseburger. I did not see that on the menu either and tried to explain this to DC. He was getting upset and luckily the girl at the counter stepped in and corrected me and said that, yes they do have fried chicken and we CAN order one piece as a side dish/ appetizer. I should have known that he of course, would remember what he had when he was there before.
- SAVED by the counter girl -
I told DC that he was correct and that Mom was wrong, which just put him in a better mood, because he LOVES when I tell him I am wrong. :)
We took a seat and not too long after, our food was ready. In the booth behind DC was a family; parents and three young children. In the seat directly behind DC’s head was the mother and two of the children, they looked to be about 3 years old. The two children were on the inside of the booth climbing all over the place and screaming, two inches from DC’s head. At first I didn’t pay much attention because there are times that noise really bothers him and other times he seems oblivious to it. This seemed to be one of the oblivious times, until all of a sudden, he looked at me, lifted his fists straight up next to his head, clenched his teeth and just shook! There are many times when I don’t immediately know what is wrong, but this time it was apparent.
I told him that I understood what was bothering him and told him that it might be better for him if we just moved his food to my side of the table and sit with me. First he refused, because he was all situated where he was,  but after thinking about it for only another second, he agreed. He moved over to my side of the table, he looked at me, put his hand to his forehead, pretended to wipe it and said “Phew!”
It was a simple fix, but I was so proud of him for keeping himself under control. Yes, he shook his fists and clenched his teeth, but he did not make a sound, he did not yell, he did not lose control. He found his own way to let me know he was having a problem and he let me help him to correct it. I’m sure the people in the booth didn’t even know anything was happening. I praised him over and over again for keeping himself in control and letting Mom know there was something wrong and letting me help him.
I also took it as an opportunity to explain to him that when he sometimes gets loud in a restaurant that this might be how the other people feel; this is why I always ask him to try to keep his voice down. I’m really not sure if he understood the connection, but I have to try to make it, when the opportunity presents itself.
He went on to enjoy his fried chicken, cheeseburger, fries and coke in the seafood restaurant without incident and in a much better mood for shopping and bookstore visits to come later.

Seafood? Or just “see food”

(this post was written entirely on my phone, please excuse any typos and run on sentences)