1st Bbq Get Together of the Season

We hosted a bbq on the weekend. Every time we try to host an event at our house, you never know how things will turn out. Will Trys be in a cooperative mood? Will I actually be able to interact with the other adults, or will I be chasing Trys all afternoon (Reed tries to help on this one but she full out yells at him to go away)? If there are other kids around, will Xayden be ok to play host as well? Will there be enough food for people (I have an unhealthy fear of sending people home hungry)? All these fun things to consider. Aside from inviting our neighbours, we added extra spice to the situation and also invited a family we befriended through Trys’s school. They have a son the same age as Trys, also autistic, and a younger one who goes to a mainstream school. We were worried about Trys and the boy from her school interacting. Trys is not always ok with sharing her toys. And the other boy may want to explore his new environment (or be completely not ok with it). All four of us (parents) were super nervous but we decided to go for it.

Things went better than expected. Xayden took on the role of a gracious host to the visiting kids. He let them make a mess of his room and entertained them. Trys was not bothered by new people in her space. In fact, she enjoyed having new friends over. The boy from her school was also ok with the new space. He needed some alone time at different points in the day, which we easily accommodated. Overall: a success! We will be doing more of them over the summer. The same anxiety will arise for us the next time, just because something worked once has no bearing on future events, even if they are mimicked perfectly. It’s important to keep trying.

P.S. We had plenty of leftovers, so I think we had enough food. Phew!

Image by Rolf van de Wal from Pixabay