Whew

Violet had a birthday party to attend today. It was held across the street in her best friend's house. They had a lady come with exotic animals to pet and meet. There were 15 girls at the party. Violet knew the birthday girl, her little sister and one other girl. We'd practiced all morning what to do in certain situations. How to politely decline petting an animal. What to do if the party got overwhelming. How to respond to people and how to make small talk.

I just stopped over there. The party is over but she's been invited to stay and play a while longer. The birthday mom (who knows Violet really well) said she got a little teary-eyed at the beginning, but warmed up and relaxed more when the animals showed up. The mom made sure Violet was sitting next to the birthday girl or the sister. She didn't pressure Violet to pet any animals, or eat a cupcake. Just made the offer and said that's fine if Violet said no thank you. Why can't more grown-ups do that?

I'm so glad. This was Violet's first big outing since several public breakdowns in December. And this outing had a lot more people and a lot more that she didn't know. I had assured her it was okay not to participate in every activity at a party but that you just needed to be polite about it. And I encouraged her to slip away to the bathroom if she needed a minute, wash her hands or get a drink of water, then return.

I'm so glad it went smoothly.