August 9, 2008

Forks and French Fries: A Dinner Time Fit

Before I was pregnant, Doug and I enjoyed going out to dinner at least once a week. As I look back on it now, that’s a lot of money spent on dining out. But we were young and childless and one of our favorite ways to spend some of that disposable income was on steak & shrimp and the occasional dinner drink.

After Dawson was born, our disposable income went into the garbage can along with the poopy diapers. Sure, we ordered take-out, but maybe once every other month if we were lucky. We didn’t venture out to a restaurant with the baby in tow until he was at least 18 months old. Doug had this crazy fear of being shunned for bringing our cute, sleeping beauty into an eating establishment.

Little did he know the days when Dawson was asleep in his car seat are much easier than a constantly moving toddler that demands to be entertained at every moment. Ask an 18-month old to wait patiently for his food to arrive like the rest of us? Have you lost your ever loving mind? Apparently we had.

I was unprepared for the dining with kids experience. Even though I had a diaper bag packed with the necessities like bibs, baby spoons and a sippy cup, I failed to bring reinforcements such as Cheerios and small toys to aid in baby distraction.

No sooner than the young, smiling waitress took our order did Dawson decide to throw a fit. He began to scream and throw his silverware. He squirmed and tried desperately to wriggle out of the high chair, arching his back while this coyote-like howl came out of his mouth. I didn’t know what else to do but pick him up and leave the table. I couldn’t handle all the people staring at us. It was awful.

Doug had a look of horror on his face. Actually, it was more a look mixed with anger and humiliation. He asked the waitress to make our order to go, and we waited in the car until it was ready (and how ironic that Dawson stopped crying once he was strapped in his car seat!). I don’t think we ventured out to dinner again until Dawson was darn near three years old.

Thankfully, my son is almost four years old and now knows that he must behave while at the meal table. If there’s any doubt in my mind that he’ll misbehave, we change our plans, but I always bring crayons and a small notepad with me to the restaurant, just in case he surprises me with an outburst.

This morning we went out to lunch at The Wooden Chair (one of the best cafes in town) and my little boy was well-behaved. He was polite to the waitress, he ate almost all of his pancakes and he carried on a conversation with me about preschool. So much better than throwing forks and french fries.

Speaking of fries, Burger King’s apple fries are awesome (I tried them as part of my new commitment to being fit). So are their new kids’ meal toys by Crayola. Dawson got the pocket sized “Happy Ever After” coloring book with his kids’ meal and it’s been tucked in my purse ever since.

There are nine toys in all (one with every BK Kids’ Meal), perfect for boys or girls, so there’s no need to scream, “a chicken nugget meal with a boy toy” into the speaker at the drive-thru (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve blushed after realizing those words came out of my mouth!)

On His Best Behavior Waiting Patiently for Pancakes.

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This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp. You can participate in this blog blast, too! Visit this PBN post for details.