We haven’t been out to eat as a family in a long time. I have forgotten how messy things can get. Dave says that we don’t just leave a tip, we leave a cleaning deposit.
And I need to remember to bring not only a change of clothes for Samuel, but for me as well! Tonight he dumped water all over my pants, so it looked like I didn’t make it to the bathroom in time!
But other than the huge mess of spilled food and water, scribbled on menus, scattered and chewed-on crayons, the meal time went relatively well! (When considering it was with 4 boys under the age of 8.)
Although this a fun age now, I do look forward to the day that they can sit down and eat at least one full plate of food without wandering around, whining, or crying that the food looks like puke.
(I remember once when Anthony was 3 we couldn’t get him to sit down and eat at the dinner table. So we brought his car seat in and strapped him in so he would sit at the table. Yeah, that didn’t go over so well. I have the pictures of that – he was not happy about being constricted. Although we did get a bungee cord for James when he was 3 and after a couple times he understood that meal time was sitting down and eating time.)
Oh the wonders of parenthood! It has its days of frustration, but it also certainly has days that are humbling and rewarding.