Kids make any situation more complicated. Enjoyable activities shared with your partner before kids are still enjoyable (most of the time), but more involved. There is more stuff to pack, schedules to juggle (like sleeping), and variables to prepare for. Going out to dinner is no different.
Before Kids:
Me: “Hey babe, where do you want to eat?”
Mama: “Not sure, what do you feel like?”
Me: “Ummmm, maybe a burger?”
Mama (aka Yelp Ninja): “Sounds good, let’s go to [Restaurant with Juicy Burger].”
[Turn off lights, get in car, and go to restaurant for nice dinner together.]
Every conversation didn’t go like this, in fact, it was usually never this quick. But you get the point. We ate where we wanted without worrying about the specifics of the menu. We wanted a burger, we knew they had a burger, so we went to get a burger.
And guess what? If we wanted fro-yo afterwards, we went and got fro-yo!
After Kids:
Going out to dinner during the first several months of having a kid, assuming you have enough energy to do so, is pretty easy (aside from the extra crap you have to tote around). The kid might sleep the whole time, and even if they don’t, they’re basically a blob anyway.
But the minute the kid starts eating real food, everything changes:
Me: “Hey babe, where do you want to eat?”
Mama: “Not sure, what do you feel like?”
Me: “Ummmm, maybe a burger?”
Mama (aka Yelp Ninja): “Well, can go to A or B. A has the mac n’ cheese that Isabel loves, and B has that really good burger, but only grilled cheese for her.”
Me: “I’ve been craving B.”
Mama: “Me too. But isn’t mac a little safer than grilled cheese?”
Me: “I guess. A it is.” [#sadface]
[Get placemat, utensils, bib, and sippy cup, look, find, and put on shoes, make sure we have diapers and wipes, turn off lights, put child in car seat, drive to restaurant, pray for a smooth ride.]
Once at the restaurant, we can’t put her in her high chair right away, otherwise we run the risk of a meltdown before dinner even starts; we color, read, do WHATEVER, with her on our lap while we wait for food. Then, once the food arrives it can still be a crap shoot, even though we picked the mac.
The best restaurants are the ones that have enough space such that she can walk around (or even have a play area adjacent to the bar…yes, these exist). Go, be free, get away from me! Normally this is fine…until we realize that Isabel is on a crash course with a waiter carrying plates and drinks. Or aimlessly standing in the middle of a doorway as the line piles up behind her.
Once dinner is over, the work isn’t done! We have to keep her awake so she doesn’t fall asleep, have to be woken up, cry, and then put back to sleep. Oh, and again, pray for no meltdown.
Fro-yo? What’s that? I’m ready for bed.
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