Last week I got a text from one of Cruise's aides telling me that Cruise's girlfriend, Claire, wanted to invite him to her birthday party but that her mom needed my phone number. Legally the aide couldn't give Claire my phone number, so she gave me Claire's so I could call her mother. I quickly called her mom, who was hesitant to send an invitation because Cruise is autistic. She was so nice about it and was only going on the information that she had from Claire and the fact that Cruise is in the autism class. She had no idea of his functioning level or anything. So she just wanted to know if it was something Cruise could do. Especially since it was in Salt Lake City at The Lion House.
I told her that Cruise would probably love to come and that he would probably be fine, despite my hesitations. After speaking with her, a wave of emotion came over me. I was excited for him, I was overcome with joy that he was being included, I was scared out of my mind, and overcome with the anxiety that I would have to work through over the next week as I prepared him for the party.
Cruise came home Monday with the invitation. The party would be that Friday and I would have to drop Cruise off at their house after school: 3:40pm. From there, they would all drive up to Salt Lake and have the party at the Lion House. There would be 10 kids and 2 adults (Claire's parents). To prepare, I first talked to Cruise about it and made sure he wanted to go. He said he did, but that he was scared of new places. So I looked on-line and showed him the picture of the building.
Tuesday I got Abby and Casey to babysit Jett and Miles on Friday so Dave and I could go on a date in Salt Lake. I wanted to be able to be nearby just in case I needed to be there asap. So we planned on hanging out at the new City Creek Mall across the street that evening.
Wednesday, I called The Lion House and asked them what the exact schedule would be for the party. The women I spoke to was so nice and said she would put a note in that there would be a child with autism at the party just so they could keep an eye out for him and be a little more understanding if he had a hard time.
From there I put together a social story that we read and re-read. On Thursday I took Cruise to Target to buy Claire a present. Normally I wouldn't spend more than $15 on a birthday present for a friend, but this was different. This was CLAIRE and it was Cruise's first time attending a birthday party that wasn't a fellow autism friend or a neighbor friend. Also, Claire was turning 8, which is a big deal. So I was a little more flexible with the price of the gift. Cruise has been asking for a Zoomer robot dog for months and it's been at the top of his Christmas list, so when he saw a puppy version of Zoomer at the store, he had to get it for Claire. Luckily the normally $50 robot was on sale for $30, so I let him get it. He was beaming with excitement as we drove home to wrap it.
Friday came and we read the social story before school. He just couldn't wait for the party and I'm sure the thought of it distracted him all day. 3:30 came and I waited for him outside his school. He got in the car and once again read the social story. I then drove him a few blocks to Claire's house where we were greeted by Claire and her parents waiting for all the children outside. I quickly introduced myself and gave them some last minute pointers, said goodbye to Cruise, and drove off, fighting off tears. Once again, I was overcome with so many different emotions.
Dave and I headed out around 4:15 and found ourselves in some pretty busy traffic. But we eventually made it up to Salt Lake and had to quickly find something to eat, as lines were getting longer and longer. So we settled for the food court and had some terrible food, which was made up for with dessert at The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We got some sea salt caramel chocolate fudge and walked around temple square for about a half hour and then made our way back to the car and headed back home. It actually one of the funnest dates we've had in a while. And it was much needed.
The party ran a bit later than expected but Cruise did awesome! They dropped him off a half hour after we got home and Claire's mom said he did great and even suggested they get together for a playdate sometime. Cruise had so much fun and only had good things to say about the party. I began to tell him just how proud I was of him when he interrupted with, "I showed Claire's mom how to do the burp song!" Great. So proud.
I wish I had pictures of the whole event; maybe I can eventually get some from Claire's mom.
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