Thank you for the support. The thing about my brother is that he's not just a regular 9 year old, he's a 9 year old with mild intellectual disability and while there are things that in theory he is capable of doing, it's hard enough to get him to brush his teeth and shower. He's also very demanding and seems to crave attention. I've tried taking him out with my friends before and it was more like my brother and I plus the kid who I dragged along to suffer with me (when we have to leave anywhere my brother will run and scream and lay on the ground and grab onto things.. u know pull the tantrum.. but the thing is, is that he's about 20 pounds heavier than I am and it's hard to wrestle him off or even convince him to stop).

My extended family all live more than a half hour away.

I'll study the recipes and try to soak up as much courage as I can in the next couple weeks before the big change.