“Slow and steady wins the race.”

- Aesop

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”

- Mark Twain

This isn’t just any potato soup – it’s the first recipe in the Julia Child cookbook.

It’s pureed. With leeks. There’s cream in it. It’s mushy. It requires the proper use of a spoon.

It’s autism HELL in a bowl.

I have to say, we put the kid to the test tonight. He started with a plateful of watercress salad and fish. Baked fish that really looks like fish. He barely made it through. He cried. He raised his voice. He tried to get out of it. But he didn’t run me off from the table. He ate the food. He ATE THE FOOD!

Then came the soup. It’s almost cruel what we set before him tonight. But he was so thrilled to be done with the baked fish that he devoured the soup. He tried to scrape it off the spoon with his teeth. He tried to tell us he was done when he wasn’t done. We were able to calmly explain that more would go in his mouth if he would use his lips. And that he could use the napkin to wipe his upper lip if it got messy (he still has a lot of sensory problems).

He ate the soup to the bottom of the bowl.

It wasn’t all that pretty. It wasn’t a relaxing meal by any stretch of the imagination. Everything revolved around him, which is nothing new.

But he ate it all.

Then, when he came be bopping in looking for dessert, we reminded him that he screamed during the fish.

The rule is: you scream, no dessert. It’s more than just a rule here. It’s the law.

He usually screams, gets shocked by the rule he’s had since he was a toddler, and screams more over how unfair it is that he’s not getting his way.

But he didn’t scream about the rule tonight.

He just moped away.

I know some of you feel like you’re reading about your own life. We totally minimized the suckage tonight. This is better, and better is great!