Better You Than Me
Sunday night our generous neighbor Cathey Ann offered to watch the kids so Bryon and I could go out for a nice dinner. We went to a neighborhood restaurant where we most likely wouldn't take the kids - at least not all three of them at once. (Small doses, small doses.) But because it was Father's Day there were lots of dads and grandpas eating with their families.
The table to our right had one set of grandparents, two sets of parents and several children - all attractive, well behaved, enjoying the evening. But in the 40 minutes it took for Bryon and I to order and eat, they still didn't have their food and as anyone with small kids can tell you, that, my friends, is the witching hour. A "grown-up" restaurant with no coloring books, TVs, fish tanks or fodder for a distracting game of I Spy.
As we were finishing our dinner, a lone guitarist set up in one corner and started playing soft, folksy music. About the same time one of the parents at the table next to us got up with one of the young kids, a dark-haired boy of probably 2. As they negotiated the space between the tables and around the guitarist the little boy karate-kicked, literally, the glass of water the guitarist had sitting on his soundboard behind him. Crash, hiss, splash. No more music.
Now I have to bring this up because we have been that family. We have knocked over a Christmas tree in our local hamburger joint, sending shiny balls rolling across the restaurant. We have been asked to leave a hotel. We have been told to keep a better eye on our kids while we were scarfing down as much food as we could before getting up to chase them out of the restaurant's kitchen.
Shortly after the Karate Kid incident, the entire table ordered a round of alcohol. They weren't showing it, but I can imagine how they might have been feeling. And here is what I learned: no one in the restaurant was giving them the stink eye. The management didn't ask them to leave. The musician didn't freak out - although he was perturbed. In other words, the world didn't come to an end. In fact most people probably didn't even notice.
I hope they can look back and laugh as I do on some of our interesting evenings out. But then again, I haven't had to replace a fried soundboard. Yet.
The table to our right had one set of grandparents, two sets of parents and several children - all attractive, well behaved, enjoying the evening. But in the 40 minutes it took for Bryon and I to order and eat, they still didn't have their food and as anyone with small kids can tell you, that, my friends, is the witching hour. A "grown-up" restaurant with no coloring books, TVs, fish tanks or fodder for a distracting game of I Spy.
As we were finishing our dinner, a lone guitarist set up in one corner and started playing soft, folksy music. About the same time one of the parents at the table next to us got up with one of the young kids, a dark-haired boy of probably 2. As they negotiated the space between the tables and around the guitarist the little boy karate-kicked, literally, the glass of water the guitarist had sitting on his soundboard behind him. Crash, hiss, splash. No more music.
Now I have to bring this up because we have been that family. We have knocked over a Christmas tree in our local hamburger joint, sending shiny balls rolling across the restaurant. We have been asked to leave a hotel. We have been told to keep a better eye on our kids while we were scarfing down as much food as we could before getting up to chase them out of the restaurant's kitchen.
Shortly after the Karate Kid incident, the entire table ordered a round of alcohol. They weren't showing it, but I can imagine how they might have been feeling. And here is what I learned: no one in the restaurant was giving them the stink eye. The management didn't ask them to leave. The musician didn't freak out - although he was perturbed. In other words, the world didn't come to an end. In fact most people probably didn't even notice.
I hope they can look back and laugh as I do on some of our interesting evenings out. But then again, I haven't had to replace a fried soundboard. Yet.
posted by Romine Family at 1:46 PM
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