For some reason, last night P and I thought it would be a good idea to go out to dinner -- with B. We got this crazy idea that we need to take her out to restaurants so she'll learn how to behave at one. I had an intense craving for pan-fried halibut the way they serve it at one of my favorite restaurants, so we decided to go there.
We planned it so we'd have dinner well before B's bedtime, so she wouldn't be too tired. We didn't have to wait long at all to get a table. Got right in, as a matter of fact. But from the moment we sat down, B was all over the place. Wouldn't stay in her booster seat. Wanted to sit on my side, then wanted to sit on P's side. Wanted to climb on the table. Grab all the silverware. The salt, pepper. Didn't want the juice I'd brought for her in her sippy cup. Complete aggravation.
The waitress came to take our order, and I ordered B's meal first, then mine, then P ordered. She didn't write anything down. She just nodded and repeated what we'd said, then scurried off. Let me tell you something. This does not impress me. What DOES impress me is when the server correctly brings all the meals ordered, at approximately the same time. Did this happen last night? Why, no! It did not. Somebody else (not our original server) brought my meal, and P's meal. But nothing for B. We had to stop him as he tried to run away to ask where B's was. He said he'd check on it.
Five minutes later, still no dinner for B. By this time, she was having a fit because we had food and she did not. So we did what any parents would do and let her eat off of our plates. Of course, she didn't want to do that -- she wanted her OWN plate, so we ended up using a little bread plate and putting food on it for her to eat. Our waitress finally came back and said she had no idea what happened, but B's dinner would be out shortly. Uh huh.
Well, I know what happened. She didn't write it down and FORGOT it. When they finally brought B's meal out some ten minutes after ours, it was so hot she couldn't eat it. Besides that, she was full from grazing off of our plates. Fortunately, the manager came by and said they wouldn't charge us for it, and offered us a box to take it home. So that was nice. But B had run out of patience for this restaurant experiment of ours. She was not content to wait for us to finish both of our meals. P finished his before I did and had to take her out of the restaurant while I finished mine, so her crying and yelling didn't disturb the other diners. I had to eat my $20 halibut dinner very quickly. I crammed the food down, chugged down my wine (I needed it), then hightailed it out of there. P came back to pay the bill, and then we came home.
The food was delicious, what I can remember of it. I just never realized dining with a 2 year old would be so hard. Now I know why couples with young kids don't go out very often. And when they do, they hire a babysitter.
Another lesson learned. B's too young to learn restaurant manners.
If you happened to be dining at the restaurant we went to last night, please accept my apologies.
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