We actually WENT to the Holiday Party!

[Guest guest]

Aloha,Sometimes it just helps to be brutally honest with the ds support group...in retrospect, I'm so glad I was.We were having an OK day on the day of the party, especially my oldest NT daughter , 16. She didn't really want to go but didn't want to stay home either...thought she may be able to connect with some other siblings in person besides her Facebook sib friends she met at an NDSC conference a couple years ago...Of course, the PA that was supposed to come with us for support cancelled at the last minute. As we were "iced out" of my own brother's Christmas eve party (he sort of invited us a couple of hours before when he came to our place to quickly drop off gifts-we drove by to see it was a big party that others must have been invited to weeks

in advance, dropped off the gifts and left because Ash was furious! "I hate them!" she said as she jumped back in the car...) this would be the ONLY party we would attend for the season...I encouraged to bring a friend instead and she invited someone whom she felt who could handle the environment-a former boyfriend, now good friend, who is wonderful with Aubrey. We decided to go for a short amount of time and then head off to City Hall to see the lights and end the evening by having our favorite seasonal drink-Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Starbucks!So we get there and it's raining heavily and there's just a few cars there so we wait in the car...it's amazing how so much anxiety is built up about these events that did not go well in the past (Aubrey pushing the founder's daughter down because the toddler was screaming (sensory overload-Aubrey explained

it to her Mom thankfully) at another gathering was reason enough not to want to go back)...so before we went in, we all agreed that if any time any one of us felt uncomfortable we would leave right away...Turns out it was a small group of mostly parents of children under 5...one other teen...the older kids Aubrey's age don't usually come out they said...The president and another Mom who is very active came up and welcomed us right away and said they were so glad we had come! The pot-luck food was great (including my chocolate chip, mms, (slight peppermint flavored) home-made cookies) and we sat at our own table and ate, played a bunch of games with them, and then I remembered I had the CD in the car...So Aubrey gets up and performs her "Disney

Princess 12 Days of Christmas" and brings down the house! Everyone turns it into a game trying to guess which princess got what gift?! And of course, Aubrey ends the night by pulling the string on a Party Popper and along with those huge eyes starts laughing so hysterically the whole room cracks up along with her. Wow! Social Success! :)After a little more than an hour or so, as soon as we see Aubrey crawl under the nearest table-we make our exit! We actually were able to spend another 45 minutes at City Hall on the way home successfully and ended the evening drinking hot chocolate and having dessert as planned. Except we forgot that Aubrey and hot chocolate SUGAR/CAFFEINE don't mix well-so of course, she had an intriguing but kinda-scary incident in the car laughing and repeatedly banging her head against the seat...'s friends's eyes popped a

bit, but he seems to have survived it! Thankfully, had enough "sister's social success" banked that night already that she wasn't too bothered having her friend witness this odd display...so naturally as he got out I thanked him profusely for being such a wonderful friend and he was beaming, too!Wow! Miracles can happen! got out of the house and spent time with family and friends in the same place, 's ex had a blast! (for real!) and Aubrey was able to share her music and inspire a few parents to be hopeful about what their child may be able to do on-stage!That was the first and last time this Christmas I really felt the Holiday "warm and fuzzy!"Maybe we'll try again next year! Moral to the story, it's all about the PEOPLE who are there!Desips my family-UGH!