When you take a baby out to a restaurant, it’s not a big deal. Usually the baby is content to nap in their carseat, or let people take turns holding him/her.
When you take a toddler to a restaurant, especially a non-fast food restaurant… it can be a little more stressful. 😜
Jordan’s parents got us a Red Lobster gift card for Valentine’s Day, and we’ve been meaning to use it, but we weren’t sure if we should try to take Spencer with us or not. He is fairly patient, but sort of a loose cannon. We figured if we waited until we could find a sitter for him, it might be a long time before we could go, so we decided to go as a family for lunch today.
We went shortly after they opened to avoid having to wait for a table, and luckily it wasn’t very busy. Spencer was actually being pretty well behaved while we waited for our drinks and cheddar biscuits. He kept pointing at things and saying “that?” (This is one of his favorite things to do right now.) He sat in my lap and played with the menu while we debated about what we wanted to eat.
The food came, and it was a big hit with Spencer. Jordan ate his dinner while I fed Spencer his kids meal, then we switched and I got to eat my food. Once Spencer got full, he started getting more antsy and tried eating his crayons, then started to cry when we took them away. I don’t know about anyone else, but I always feel very anxious when I am out in public with Spencer and he starts to cry or yell. It seems like people have no problem making dirty looks and mean faces towards people with babies who aren’t being perfectly quiet, and I have sort of a thin skin so that bothers me.
I left Jordan at the table with the check and took Spencer up front to look at the ill-fated lobsters. He stared through the glass and giggled and pointed at the water in the tank. An employee came over and asked if he wanted to pet one. I’m sure my face was a mixture of disbelief and intrigue. You can pet a lobster? I said sure, let’s do it.
She took the lobster out of the tank and held it in front of Spencer. I was mildly horrified because it looked like a big spider with its legs flailing all around. Spencer touched it but didn’t seem all that amused, and she put the lobster back in the tank.
All in all, he did pretty well, and we had a good time together as a family. I’m glad we decided to take him with us.
Kristen Stewart, Writer 