Ever since I became pregnant, dining out became a hassle and not relaxing like it used to be. First off, I couldn't drink, so really what was the point of going out? Second, money became tighter and tighter and we felt guilty about eating a $10 meal when I could have been cooking 88 cent spaghetti at home. Thirdly, now that we have Jim, taking him out is like gouging your eyeballs out with a spoon--totally painful, totally unnecessary. So now we stay in on most occasions, however, today I decided to do a solo lunch with him at our local Olive Garden. I'm pretty sure my desperation for some 'out of the house' time, overruled my better judgment. I knew as soon as we arrived that I would be needing a glass of Riesling to help the process go smoothly. Second, we needed bread pronto to keep that kid settled for 2 minutes!
My meal was coming to a close and my wine was almost drunk. I could feel the end near. I knew in a matter of minutes I would be out of the hell I put myself in and he would be safely in his car seat. Homestretch baby! I decided it was close enough to the end that I could put him on the ground and I could quickly finish. He discovered a whole new world of thrown food down underneath the table. He loved it..I think he might have sneaked a few morsels in before I could get them out of his grubby little hands. Let me be clear here, this was his own food he threw down, not someone else's.
All in all, he did well. Probably won't be trying this again solo until he can be reasoned with. Dealing with an infant alone is hard, dealing with an infant alone at a restaurant is running a 5k after years of not stepping foot off your couch. But the memories are worth it!
Need bread now!
So now that little man is settled with some buttery garlic bread that he will no doubt smother all over his head, mama is finally ready to order her food!
Aaahhh!
My salad arrived and my baby was still behaving quite pleasantly. I think its because our waitress gave him some of his favorite food..paper!
Yum!
All was proceeding smoothly until my main course arrived...of course! The smell of cheesy pasta overcame my son and he had sudden urge to stand in his high chair and scream. Not crying, just yelling. I'm holding him with one hand, shoving pasta in with the other while trying to feed him bits of crescent shaped ravioli. Nothing was really working so I did what most competent parents do, I gave my son a BIC pen.
My meal was coming to a close and my wine was almost drunk. I could feel the end near. I knew in a matter of minutes I would be out of the hell I put myself in and he would be safely in his car seat. Homestretch baby! I decided it was close enough to the end that I could put him on the ground and I could quickly finish. He discovered a whole new world of thrown food down underneath the table. He loved it..I think he might have sneaked a few morsels in before I could get them out of his grubby little hands. Let me be clear here, this was his own food he threw down, not someone else's.
All in all, he did well. Probably won't be trying this again solo until he can be reasoned with. Dealing with an infant alone is hard, dealing with an infant alone at a restaurant is running a 5k after years of not stepping foot off your couch. But the memories are worth it!
Haha LOVE IT!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave soul taking an infant into a restaurant.
ReplyDeleteThanks Barb!
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