This afternoon Harlan mentioned that she wanted tacos for dinner. MacKay is out of town and I have a little deal with myself that when he is gone, I don’t cook. Not having to play chef in my own kitchen makes my night go just a little bit smoother when I have to do the evening routine all on my own.
On the nights that he is gone I usually just pick something up for the kids on our way home from the gym. But tonight I was feeling especially adventurous and decided to take them to a restaurant. I’m always a bit nervous when I randomly decide to take them out on my own. While they are generally well behaved children, they are children, meaning they are also a ticking time bomb.
We sat down for dinner and there was no one in the restaurant. It was only five o’clock, so we had plenty of time before the dinner crowd really started to roll in. Feeling pretty confident about our evening ahead, I ordered the girls some food, sat Macks in his highchair and gave him something to nibble on, and ordered myself a drink.
Before I knew it, Harlan and I were in a deep conversation about things going on at school. I love that she so eagerly wants to tell me every single thing that happens during her day. She’s still at the age where she wants to include me and it makes me feel wanted. These conversations with her won’t last forever, so when we just sit and talk, I relish in the moment.
While we were talking, Avery came to stand next to me. Macks was trying to wiggle his way out of the highchair for a while and Avery came to the rescue to provide her usual form of entertainment. The buzz around our table felt happy. I was grinning ear-to-ear at the genuine joy I was feeling at that moment watching all three of my kids there with me.
Slowly but surely while we waited for our food, the restaurant started to fill up. It was mostly families with young children trying to catch an early meal before getting the kids home and ready for bed, so I felt a little bit less stressed doing all of this on my own knowing that many of the people in the restaurant had probably been in my shoes before.
Once our dinner came is when things started to get a little bit hectic. Harlan accidentally knocked over Avery’s drink on the floor. Her tacos weren’t to her liking so every time the waitress would come over, she had a different request for taco topping. Macks wanted nothing to do with his highchair and kept wiggling his way out attempting to stand up in the seat. One trip to the bathroom quickly turned into three. And Avery didn’t want to eat her food. It was a standard dinner affair for our family, I just didn’t have the security net of being in our home.
Rather than getting frustrated with everyone, I kept calm. It’s something that I’ve been working on a lot lately. Going out to dinner in a restaurant that the kids aren’t familiar with can be stressful for them too and I just needed to remember that.
As we were finishing our meal, the woman behind us leaned over and said to me “How do you have three such well-behaved kids?” My initial reaction was to respond with, “Did you see the spilled drink or that one over there refusing to eat her dinner?” But I didn’t. I took the compliment. “Thank you,” I responded. “I appreciate you saying that.”
We finished our dinner and left the restaurant with smiles on our faces. All three are now sleeping soundly in their beds and to be honest, our night couldn’t have gone more perfectly.
As I got ready for bed tonight, I started to think about what that fellow mom at the table next to us said to me. It’s rare that moms compliment other moms. And it’s even more rare that we accept the compliment rather than tearing ourself apart. It’s a real confidence booster when other moms acknowledge the great job we are doing in this journey of motherhood.
To that mom that sat next to me tonight at dinner, thank you for noticing. And an even bigger thank you for sharing it with me.
