Do you take your little ones out to dinner much? How is that for you?
Is it something you look forward to and you know you will enjoy the night off, or is is more like a battle zone you want to avoid?
I've heard many stories about how I was when I was a toddler out to dinner. My parents get kudos from me. They both would tell me I would sit and be the best behaved child even in the finest resturant, when I had my own children I wondered how they did it. Well it actually wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. This is what worked for them and myself, it may work for you too. I was raised on a livestock farm, where the family for many many years also showed cattle. If you are not familar with what it takes to raise livestock or travel the midwest all summer long chasing a blue ribbon, its a lot of hard work, but it also is a lot of reward in the end. When you are a toddler the work is not really what you are involved in, but there are a lot of moving parts most of the time, most of them not for little kids. Learning how to play in the "safe" area where I was given was second nature to me. Learning how to wait my turn when adults were talking or to "go with the flow" was also easy, there really was no other choice. That being said sitting and eating quietly when taken to the finest restaurants was not an issue either, it was just part of the day.
When it was my turn to teach this, when my sons were born, I wanted the same for them. It was a little more challenging for me since I was the one in the driver seat now, but non-the less my sons went everywhere. There wasn't a lot of stay home with grandparents nights, they did, but not a lot. They too knew when we go in to sit and eat that is what was expected of them and they did it. They went! They loved it. Now today they are growning up to be young men, traveling and working. Vance out on his own paying for his own steak now. Liam traveling out of the country with his classmates, no parents to monitor him. Ryland, who knows where he will take us, but big things are to come for him too I just know it.
When out with my husband today, I've witnessed both. Kids up running around the table, crying and screaming wanting to go home. Then I've seen kids playing/glued to a tablet while waiting for their dinner. I've also seen kids drawing on the back of their kids menu quietly and smiling and interacting with parents. Are there right and wrong ways to go out to dinner, sure there are. Everyone has their own opinion on this. Either way...my advice just do it, just take them. The more we are with our kids and show them how great we can be the more they learn. If you are okay with them up running around and circling the table, thats up to you. But I'll be glad to praise your littles when out at dinner and I don't even know they are there!
Happy Eating everyone...have a great week.