"RED" LOBSTER

Reece is such a crab leg connoisseur. So it goes without saying that he got crazy excited about our choice to eat at Red Lobster yesterday evening. Let me just say, everyone should live life with the same passion that Reece does. He goes all out to enjoy the moment and if he loves something, he loves it with all his heart. We get swept up in his excitement without even realizing it.

It was very busy and as we waited for a table, he asked 50 loud questions about the lobsters in the tanks.
"Why are they sittin' still, Momma? "
"Are the ones with blue rubberbands on their pinchers boy lobsters?"
"Why is there no lid on the tank?"
"Do we eat these?"
"Which parts do we eat?"
"Why do they have eyes?"
"Are they lookin' at me?"
"Why don't we see the eyes when they bring the crabs to our table?"
On and on and on he went, until they finally seated us (thank you, Lord).

The waitress came to take our order, a nice gal with the Kelly Clarkson look. Our kids get to feeling all grown up if they order for themselves. Reece, not one to wait for the grass to grow under his feet, began. His delivery was a bit gasp worthy though, as he loudly blurted out,

"Do you have crabs?"

"Crab legs, honey. Do they have crab l-e-g-s."

Unamused, the waitress finished taking our order and went about her business. That's when Reece decided to take care of some business of his own. I might note that he has failed Inside Voice 101 at least three times already.
So, he declared rather loudly, "I NEED TO GO POTTY."

We weren't sure where the restroom was, so Carl had the kids slide out from the semi-circular table we had been seated at, instructing Olivia to ask a server where the restroom was. Before she could locate one, Reece scurried ahead of Olivia to a prominent place in the middle of the crowded dining room and proceeded to yell at anyone who might listen,
"Excuse me! Do you have a bathroom? Excuuuuse meeeeee! Do you have a bathroom?"

Carl and I were mortified.
"Reece. REEEEECE! Stop yelling. Reece, you stop yelling right this instance." Oh, how we wanted to reel him in, but he wasn't having it. And we couldn't get out of our semi-circle seating to snatch him because they had placed one of those infant carseat holders right in front of us and basically caged us in.

Naturally, everyone stopped mid-bite to see who the little darling was. Of course more pressing, they seemed to want to catch a glimpse of the the stellar parents who were responsible for raising such a darling. There we sat, eating our servings of humble pie, even as Carl blotted baby puke from his "I'm into Jesus" DC Talk tee shirt. Attractive family, we Clampetts are.

And now I know why they call it Red Lobster, because I assure you, we were. Red, that is.

Sticking with our oceany theme, we then headed to the automatic car wash to gussy up our van for a visit from the social worker today. Reece has some sensory deficits and thus has a low tolerance for loud noises and unfamiliar motion. Needless to say, he was workin' up an ulcer before we ever entered the contraption. I thought I had him convinced that it was going to be fine. But as Carl began sticking his code in the code thingy, Reece let out a banschee cry that suggested otherwise.

And I'm all, "I'll give you a piece of gum if you're really brave while we go through the car wash."

He chewed me up and spit me out instead.

And Olivia was all, "Hey, buddy. This is going to be fun. We're like the movie Shark Tales and this is the whale wash." See? Oceany theme. And he whaled and whaled wailed and wailed in spite of her creative attempts to stop him. As always, I had to point out that we lived to see the light of day. I'm hoping it'll register soon.

I am happy to say he's gotten better over the years. Less overwhelmed by certain sensory experiences. We can now enjoy amusement parks and we can stop at a redlight under an overpass without Reece thinking the sky is falling. In the lifebook of Pooh characters, he's definitely our Piglet. And yes, sometimes it's plain hard to gauge when to push him to work through some of those fears and when to just love on him 'till the fear subsides. Prayerfully and carefully, we do our best in that regard. At the end of the day, it's all we can do. And I'm thankful for seeing the glass half full. Because, ya know, it truly is.

Psalm 103:3
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.

Toni