Eating Out with Kids

  I think I'll pinch his ear 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

I LOVE restaurants.

I love the excitement, the luxury, the menus. I love getting out of the house.

My kids are destroying this for me, and I fear that it will be years before we can go out for an enjoyable dinner as a family.

Yesterday morning, we thought it might be nice to go out for Sunday breakfast with the kids. And we did EVERYTHING right. It was early. We figured we'd get to the restaurant before 9am and avoid any major crowds. We chose a loud and boisterous place that is known to be kid-friendly. None of this mattered. The meal was a disaster.

Dylan was crying before we even sat down. She refused to sit next to her dad, so I ended up with one kid on either side of me. The waitress kept placing items in front of Max, seemingly unaware that he is a BABY. Note to the waitress: babies don't use crayons. Babies eat crayons. Babies can't feed themselves from a small dish of complementary ice cream. Babies rub the ice cream all over themselves. Babies don't know to avoid the hot handle of their mom's skillet eggs. Don't put the freakin' handle in front of them!

As I tried to save Max from every possible disaster thrown his way, Dylan threw fit after fit. She was starving. She was tired. She wanted to go home. She wanted sausage. She wanted grapefruit. The grapefruit is sour. The sausage is too spicy.

By the time we left the restaurant, I was ready to call it a night and it wasn't even 10am. I just can not do this again, and that does not make me happy. Tell me this will get better.

Comments

[Lauren]

We went out with the kids on our anniversary this year to a nice flatbread pizza place. They said it'd be a 15-minute wait but it was more like 25. By then the kids were antsy, hungry, and running like crazy. But somehow, they settled down at the table, actually drew with their crayons and ate their food. It was truly amazing. I left the restaurant feeling good and relaxed and it took me a minute to remember what that's like. So it does happen, if rarely.

[Randi]

I'm experiencing the same thing at the moment. I'm in NC visiting my friend who has 2 small boys. I was so excited to finally get some good authentic NY Deli. It was close to a disaster as well.

[Mir]

It will get better. I promise.

It is by no means smooth sailing (yet) to eat out with mine, but it's MUCH easier than it used to be. And I am cultivating in them the appreciation of this exciting event, which becomes incentive for them to behave. ;)

[Rachael]

I think/hope/pray it will get better. In the meantime, I encourage the use of babysitters.

[Michelle]

It should get better--when they're old enough to pick up the tab. For now, we only take kids out once a year (breakfast) when we go cut our Christmas tree. They get to miss school and order pancakes with Mickey Mouse ears. For now, Fridays night dinners are mine and the husband's--alone.

[Kathy]

It really does get better as they get older. I won't say that restaurant dining is a breeze quite yet for us, but it's far better than when the boys were little. Give it time.

[kyoot]

We rarely go out now, it's either too expensive to waste the food or just too exhausting for me. The last time I took my kids to sit down at a restraunt was October 2nd 2005.

[Deborah]

Hi there! Don't lose hope. For us, 5-6 years old was a turning point. Our kids, like yours, are into good food: once they reach kindergarten or so, the little gourmands' anticipation of the food will outweigh their desire to play with the water glasses, drop the bread on the floor, whine, and be general pains.

[Kim Hanson]

It gets better! Then they don't want to wake up for breakfast and are too busy in the evening with friends to go out with you. Then they turn 21 and order expensive wine! Find a good babysitter. Eat later so you can spend time with them before you go out.

[SusieJ]

My husband can't understand why I don't want to go out to dinner with the 19-month-old, why I'd rather get takeout, or even cook. He says he has a lot of fun eating out with our son on the nights I go out by myself. For me it's just the stress of watching him, making sure he eats the right things, doesn't drink the wrong things ... well, you know.

[Cathy White]

I'm a semi-expert at eating out with my young children, and because the wait time and the food acceptance issues are always out of my control, we always come armed. First, I have a backup bag of snacks and have hopefully picked a place that will serve vanilla ice cream when I'm in a jam.

Second, I bring my own entertainment for the toddler. She has a special plastic box filled with rubber stamp pads, markers, paper, and stickers that she only gets access to when we're at a restaurant. This keeps her plenty busy while we wait for the food. If she gets really hungry, I'll dole out the snack one goldfish at a time. If she hates the meal, I'll order an emergency bowl of ice cream.

Of course, even with all of these things planned, we have still had to dash out of restaurants. And things change all the time. I'm going to have to restock her activity box with some new things since she's oh-so-sophisticated these days.