[SPAM] Re: Poll- most embarassing meltdown

[Guest guest]

– OMG, I laughed and cried

until I almost made myself sick!!  I am sure many others had flashbacks to

similar incidents.  The first story you wrote about caused me to have a

flashback about an incident with my son in a restaurant when he was 6½.  We had

moved to Houston from Oklahoma in May 1996.  That Thanksgiving I

had the entire week off and so Tyler, Colby (my then 16 year old son), and I

were driving back to Oklahoma. 

We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for lunch.  Now, for those of you

that have never experienced one of these restaurants, it is a parent’s

worst nightmare – and I am talking a parent of an NT child!  To get into

the actual restaurant you have to go thru a “country store” that is

full of all sorts of candy, toys, etc.  Well, Tyler started the minute we entered wanting candy,

wanting candy, wanting candy.  I finally told him that IF he ate all his lunch he

could have candy.  Well, I think you all know where this story is going…  He

is sitting across from me and next to his brother.  All thru lunch he kept repeating

that he wanted candy and I kept repeating that he must eat all his lunch.  He started

getting louder and still had not eaten his lunch.  In fact, he had stopped

eating totally.  So, I said to him, “You did not eat your lunch so there will

be no candy.”  He lost it.  He started yelling and screaming and before I

could get up to remove him from the restaurant he picked up a knife (oh, and

that is something else about this restaurant – they have very heavy

silverware) and threw it at me.  The knife did not hit me but landed on the

table behind me with a horrible clatter and bang.  Thank God, the people who

had been sitting there had just finished and left.  I don’t know if it

got really quiet in the restaurant or if I felt like it was quiet as I felt like I was in a tunnel (very similar

to the feeling you get when you are coming out of anesthesia).  My poor older

son just kept his head down and continued eating – I think he was so embarrassed

and shocked as this was probably the worst incident we had ever had at that

time.  My face must have turned fire truck red as I could feel my ears

pulsating and the adrenaline shooting thru me.  I stood up and put my face

about an inch away from his face and I think I grabbed him by the collar and

with my teeth clenched said, “You will shut up now and we are going to

the van!”  I got a death grip on his hand and arm and marched him out.  And

all the way to the van he is yelling, “Don’t spank me Mommy!  Don’t

spank me Mommy!”  When we got to the van I did spank him with the wooden

spoon that I carried.  To this day, almost exactly 11 years later I can

remember this incident as if it was yesterday.  And, I bet my now almost 28

year old son remembers it, too!  This was 9 years before we got the Asperger’s

diagnosis (had ADHD diagnosis) and I had already raised two children and could

not figure out what I was doing wrong!!!! 

That was probably the worst or at least

the worst that I remember.  I think that with these kids we tend to “forget”

as much as possible.  Probably, the most memorable – or at least the one

we all remember and laugh about frequently was when Tyler

was 5½ and we still lived in Oklahoma. 

We were driving down the street to go out to eat dinner with my then 19 year

old daughter and her boyfriend and, of course, Colby.  I can’t remember

where we were going but we drove by Applebee’s and that is where Tyler decided he wanted

to go.  He is sitting in his booster seat kicking and screaming, “I want

to go to Applebee’s!  I want to go to Applebee’s!”  Poor

Steve, my now son-in-law, who had not been dating my daughter long!  We have

always said it was true love if Steve came back after that experience.   To

this day, we can’t drive by an Applebee’s without Steve mimicking Tyler doing this.  It is

just hysterical.

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Mattio

Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007

10:15 PM

Subject: [sPAM] ( )

Re: Poll- most embarassing meltdown

Well my worst ever (I say " worse " , because

it was the most violent

episode) was at a restaurant with my husband and my son's godmother.

I guess he was about 6? He didn't get extra ice cream so, he began to

yell at the top of his lungs. As we got up to leave (of course) he

stood up on the table in front of me and with a short running start,

he tackled me. It resulted in me being thrown across the room like a

linebacker had just hit me. As my husband carried him over his

shoulder, out the door, my son screams " HELP, HELP, somebody HELP

ME! " So the people outside were sure we were kidnappers. We went

through 3 door locks that night. We were in the practice of timing

his fits to report back to his therapist ; after arriving home it

continued, full blown, for an hour and 23 minutes. (the max ever

timed - 3 hours)

We've never been to a public place without being stared at

consistently, from infancy till today. To count them all is an

impossible task.

The most memorable? Wal Mart. That stupid little car! We were on our

way to the check out and he dropped the little car he wanted. As he

bent over to pick it up, his toe hit it ever so slightly ; enough for

it to scoot under the damn refrigerator. This was the LAST ONE of

it's kind and getting it from underneath the industrialized, 15 foot

tall fridge, was not gonna happen. Needless to say I'm sure, it got

loud and ugly. I was going to just leave the basket and run (as usual)

but, getting him out the door at this age and weight was extremely

physical and difficult. So, here I am at the checkout area with

everyone staring. They heard us coming a mile away so, when we got

there, you couldn't even hear the check out beeps from the computers

anymore. Everyone had stopped in their tracks. Besides Talon's voice,

you could hear a pin drop in a very busy Walmart. He threw himself to

the floor still screaming and crying. As I made my way toward the

exit, he grabbed my leg. I continued to just walk away, dragging him

as he hung on to my ankle. He then reached for something with one

hand, still holding me with the other. I was pulled to the floor as

if the rug had been yanked right out from under me. Humiliated and

exhausted, I sat for a minute to gather myself. Meltdown is still

full blown aside me. I then picked him up over my shoulder like a

sack of potatoes (to avoid dropping him since he wiggles

frantically). A woman came to me at my car, put her hand on my

shoulder, and said " honey, you handled that so well, I'm so proud of

you and Godbless " I burst into tears but, not because I was

embarrased. I was just overwhelmed that someone actually observed the

difficulty of my everyday life and gave me a thumbs up on my

tolerance level. After that day, the guilt of not being perfect

enough for my son's special needs never haunted me again.

Ang

[Guest guest]

"Death grip" and the wooden spoon! I'll never forget that now.

OK, maybe one more REALLY memorable one......

My son use to go to Tae Kwon Do. It was located in a very exclusive, sophisticated, full service, extremely expensive, fitness and social club. His instructor was paying rent and giving royalties of his tuition in order to use their facility. The story starts just like most of the ones written here in the group. He wanted something he wasn't gonna get. (one of those fitness bars for $11.00 that I knew he wouldn't like the taste of) Now let me set up the environment for you before I go on. A completely open floor plan, humungus, two story facility with a little cafe in the center. By standing in the cafe (looking up and down and rotating in a circle) you can see everyone doing everything, everywhere. This is where the stand of health bars and products were sold and of course, this area is part of the journey to the exit. On a typical day it's pretty busy in there, with the weights clanking loudly, talking and racketballs ecoing throughout. My sweet pea proceeded to flip out, screaming louder than anything I had ever heard him scream (or maybe it was just the echoing that made it seem worse than ever). The weights stopped clanking, racketballs were no longer slamming into the walls, and I looked up to an audience of at least 150 or so people in silence, just hanging over the balcony bars looking down at us, with their jaws to the floor. I began walking away from him praying that he would follow but, NOT! He fell to the floor and grabbed my ankle and legs. I forced my legs apart to continue but, he was determined to get me to the floor! I did an awckward, graceful fall (LOL) making a poor attempt to pretend that it didn't actually happen. I looked up for my stepson (13) and saw only his back walking frantically toward the exit, escaping the scene. So again, I got up and threw this 80 pound kid over my shoulder and walked with him kicking and screaming, aalllll the way to the car, in the rear of a huge, busy, shopping center parking lot. In situations like these you're never parked anywhere near the door!

On days like those, the word "exhaustion" doesn't even cover the fatigue that would come over me. Now I laugh at it because of my trip to the floor and the escape my stepson executed sucessfully, so that no one would know he was with us. The little @*%*!

Ang

>> – OMG, I laughed and cried until I almost made myself sick!! I am> sure many others had flashbacks to similar incidents. The first story you> wrote about caused me to have a flashback about an incident with my son in a> restaurant when he was 6½. We had moved to Houston from Oklahoma in May> 1996. That Thanksgiving I had the entire week off and so Tyler, Colby (my> then 16 year old son), and I were driving back to Oklahoma. We stopped at a> Cracker Barrel restaurant for lunch. Now, for those of you that have never> experienced one of these restaurants, it is a parent's worst nightmare – and> I am talking a parent of an NT child! To get into the actual restaurant you> have to go thru a "country store" that is full of all sorts of candy, toys,> etc. Well, Tyler started the minute we entered wanting candy, wanting> candy, wanting candy. I finally told him that IF he ate all his lunch he> could have candy. Well, I think you all know where this story is going… He> is sitting across from me and next to his brother. All thru lunch he kept> repeating that he wanted candy and I kept repeating that he must eat all his> lunch. He started getting louder and still had not eaten his lunch. In> fact, he had stopped eating totally. So, I said to him, "You did not eat> your lunch so there will be no candy." He lost it. He started yelling and> screaming and before I could get up to remove him from the restaurant he> picked up a knife (oh, and that is something else about this restaurant –> they have very heavy silverware) and threw it at me. The knife did not hit> me but landed on the table behind me with a horrible clatter and bang.> Thank God, the people who had been sitting there had just finished and left.> I don't know if it got really quiet in the restaurant or if I felt like it> was quiet as I felt like I was in a tunnel (very similar to the feeling you> get when you are coming out of anesthesia). My poor older son just kept his> head down and continued eating – I think he was so embarrassed and shocked> as this was probably the worst incident we had ever had at that time. My> face must have turned fire truck red as I could feel my ears pulsating and> the adrenaline shooting thru me. I stood up and put my face about an inch> away from his face and I think I grabbed him by the collar and with my teeth> clenched said, "You will shut up now and we are going to the van!" I got a> death grip on his hand and arm and marched him out. And all the way to the> van he is yelling, "Don't spank me Mommy! Don't spank me Mommy!" When we> got to the van I did spank him with the wooden spoon that I carried. To> this day, almost exactly 11 years later I can remember this incident as if> it was yesterday. And, I bet my now almost 28 year old son remembers it,> too! This was 9 years before we got the Asperger's diagnosis (had ADHD> diagnosis) and I had already raised two children and could not figure out> what I was doing wrong!!!! > > > > That was probably the worst or at least the worst that I remember. I think> that with these kids we tend to "forget" as much as possible. Probably, the> most memorable – or at least the one we all remember and laugh about> frequently was when Tyler was 5½ and we still lived in Oklahoma. We were> driving down the street to go out to eat dinner with my then 19 year old> daughter and her boyfriend and, of course, Colby. I can't remember where we> were going but we drove by Applebee's and that is where Tyler decided he> wanted to go. He is sitting in his booster seat kicking and screaming, "I> want to go to Applebee's! I want to go to Applebee's!" Poor Steve, my now> son-in-law, who had not been dating my daughter long! We have always said> it was true love if Steve came back after that experience. To this day, we> can't drive by an Applebee's without Steve mimicking Tyler doing this. It> is just hysterical.> > > > > > > > > > _____ > > From: > [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Mattio> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 10:15 PM> > Subject: [sPAM] ( ) Re: Poll- most embarassing meltdown> > > > Well my worst ever (I say "worse", because it was the most violent > episode) was at a restaurant with my husband and my son's godmother. > I guess he was about 6? He didn't get extra ice cream so, he began to > yell at the top of his lungs. As we got up to leave (of course) he > stood up on the table in front of me and with a short running start, > he tackled me. It resulted in me being thrown across the room like a > linebacker had just hit me. As my husband carried him over his > shoulder, out the door, my son screams "HELP, HELP, somebody HELP > ME!" So the people outside were sure we were kidnappers. We went > through 3 door locks that night. We were in the practice of timing > his fits to report back to his therapist ; after arriving home it > continued, full blown, for an hour and 23 minutes. (the max ever > timed - 3 hours)> > We've never been to a public place without being stared at > consistently, from infancy till today. To count them all is an > impossible task. > > The most memorable? Wal Mart. That stupid little car! We were on our > way to the check out and he dropped the little car he wanted. As he > bent over to pick it up, his toe hit it ever so slightly ; enough for > it to scoot under the damn refrigerator. This was the LAST ONE of > it's kind and getting it from underneath the industrialized, 15 foot > tall fridge, was not gonna happen. Needless to say I'm sure, it got > loud and ugly. I was going to just leave the basket and run (as usual)> but, getting him out the door at this age and weight was extremely > physical and difficult. So, here I am at the checkout area with > everyone staring. They heard us coming a mile away so, when we got > there, you couldn't even hear the check out beeps from the computers > anymore. Everyone had stopped in their tracks. Besides Talon's voice, > you could hear a pin drop in a very busy Walmart. He threw himself to > the floor still screaming and crying. As I made my way toward the > exit, he grabbed my leg. I continued to just walk away, dragging him > as he hung on to my ankle. He then reached for something with one > hand, still holding me with the other. I was pulled to the floor as > if the rug had been yanked right out from under me. Humiliated and > exhausted, I sat for a minute to gather myself. Meltdown is still > full blown aside me. I then picked him up over my shoulder like a > sack of potatoes (to avoid dropping him since he wiggles > frantically). A woman came to me at my car, put her hand on my > shoulder, and said "honey, you handled that so well, I'm so proud of > you and Godbless" I burst into tears but, not because I was > embarrased. I was just overwhelmed that someone actually observed the > difficulty of my everyday life and gave me a thumbs up on my > tolerance level. After that day, the guilt of not being perfect > enough for my son's special needs never haunted me again.> > Ang>