Thursday, April 5, 2012

Mama Reality Check

I have been meaning to write a blog post about this for a long time now. 


This mama has had a big reality check in the last several months. About what, you ask?

Well, about a lot of things but most specifically recently, dining out.

There used to be a time when hubs and I would decide to pick up and head out to our favorite restaurant for dinner, and enjoy a nice, relaxing, and yes, even quiet dinner together. We could enjoy our food and each other's company, and even the company of guests if we preferred. Fast forward to the twins' birth. We still enjoyed the occasional night out to eat, and enjoyed a peaceful and delicious dinner, even with two infants next to us. They either slept through the whole dinner, or were fine and content in their car seats with their bottles. 







And now, fast forward several years and a 3rd child later, and dinners out are not even close to what they used to be.

Gone are the $20 checks ($25 or $30 once you figure in a tip...still very cheap and reasonable). Gone are the quiet, peaceful dinners. Gone is the thorough enjoyment of food and content happy babies with their bottles.

In their place are $50+ dollar checks, rowdy and loud dinners, hurrying to finish our food to avoid major child meltdowns, and unhappy, tantrum throwing toddlers. Reality has hit me....









Dining out will never be the same again. Well, at least not for the next 18 years. ;-)




Don't get me wrong...there are definitely times when the kids are very well behaved and manageable when we go out. Those times are few and far between though. Along with them getting older comes larger appetites, so where we once used to be able to share our own dinners with them when we went out, or get by on a large pizza, we now have to order them their own meals from the kids menu, or get 2 large pizzas. Along with that, comes larger bills, of course. That's just one change. 







And then there are the times when they ask for something to eat in particular, and then when the food comes, they would rather throw it, mix it all together on their plates and play with it, put it in their cups of water....anything they can think of besides eating. 







Or, worst of all, there are the tantrums and meltdowns. Mason gets overtired easily and thus, cranky, which makes for lots of crying and screaming. Connor and Merasia can be very defiant at times, and these times usually come out in full force on public outings, especially when dining out. Not only do these events make hubs and I have to rush through a meal or order it to go, but they are more then embarrassing and though other dinner guests insist it's no problem and they "understand," I can't help but feel they are just being nice. 


When we were told our lives were about to change forever when we were pregnant with the twins, we never truly knew what that meant.







Until now. 


But, even a midst all of these negative sides of dining out (or going out in public at all) with 3 year old twins and a 13 month old...the embarrassing tantrums, the meltdowns, the stares from strangers, the tears (sometimes even from me, not just the kids!), the unfinished or unsatisfying dinners out....we wouldn't trade it for the world, and somehow....it's all completely worth it.  








1 comment:

Amanda @ Life, Experience Needed said...

Eating out with kids is different. When we had our son we learned to ask for our meals 5 minutes apart so one of us could inhale while the other one distracted him, then we'd swap. Now with 2 kids it's not as easy. Our son is failry content to colour but our daughter just wants to twist and turn, play, throw things, and out eats her brother.
I guess it's all about practice ;-)