Football with daddy

Tom had two tickets to Alabama's season opener against Kent State, and thought it would be a great experience to share with Andrew.  I mean, we had properly indoctrinated one son already in the love of all things Alabama football, and the twins have their share of jerseys, hats, t-shirts, and shakers.   However, it was now time to make the pilgrimage to Bryant-Denny and pay homage to The Bear.

You need to know what a brave soul Tom was for suggesting the idea in the first place.  Andrew is our wanderer.  Like many on the spectrum, he is subject to distraction and will often wander off without regard to personal safety and does not always respond to his name (especially in a sensory overloaded enviornment), and this causes a lot of anxiety and puts us on our toes.  Thankfully, Aidan does not have this same tendency.  At church, Tom and I station ourselves as sentries at designated points where we can keep a watchful eye on our busy boy with respect to the many exits we have in that building, and have also done the same at our friends' homes.  Another thing we did was have a home security system installed ---not to protect our worldly possessions--but to alert us whenever a door is open.  A lovely woman's voice notifies us "pool door/garage door/front door open"; annoying, yes; but it has brought such peace of mind that we don't mind it at all!  In fact, having this alarm has cut down a lot on Andrew's wandering from our home, so I've concluded it's not just the fact he gets distracted and has a lack of understanding of the dangers that lurk out in the world, but, get this....he's also got a "typical" mischievous streak.  Go figure!


So, with all that said, you can understand our apprehensions about this outing.  We know we have to take everything into consideration, but we're getting to the point where we are getting more and more comfortable with trying out new things.  We have to, for his growth and our sanity!  With a deep breath and determination, we went for it....

Leaving out

He waited so patiently for his turn with Big Al

They got there early enough to walk around the Quad and take in all the sights.  Two highlights for Andrew was meeting Big Al and seeing The Million Dollar Band perform there before the game.  He loved when the different instruments broke out into individual groups to play.  His fave?  The trombones, which was the instrument T.J. played for three years in middle school!

Bear Bryant

Elephant stomp!

Great seats & great memories

Andrew was so thrilled seeing the players run out on the field

Andrew was so well-behaved and had such a big time!  He yelled "Roll Tide" with the crowd and really enjoyed the atmosphere (and snacks).  Around halftime, he grew a little restless, so Tom decided they would leave on a high note and beat the crowds and traffic and head home.  Since then, he has asked Tom several times about going to another football game.   And that, my friends, makes a daddy very proud indeed!

Mission accomplished.