Tuesday
A Lesson in Judging Others
Today I had to laugh at myself when I became the mom with the out of control kids. We wanted to meet up with a couple we met here who are leaving on Wednesday and thought it might be nice to meet at a cafe for dinner. We have taken Alex out to dinner at a cafe before and he did really well so we figured we could handle taking both boys out to dinner. All in all we made it through the evening unscathed but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a challenge. First, we picked a table that was under a canopy and shaded because it was so hot out but within fifteen minutes our shade was gone and we ended up getting baked for the next hour or so. Then, when we asked the waiter for more time to figure out our order he interpreted that as come back in twenty minutes. So, in spite of baking in the sun and having to wait for almost forty minutes to get our food, the boys did keep it together pretty well. However, towards the end of dinner at one point I looked at the boys and realized that Ethan was busily eating just ketchup with his fork out of the little dish they brought it in and Alex was just rubbing his french fry back and forth across the table trying to get the dill off of the fry! All at once I realized that I had become that mom that I always see in restaurants with the out of control kids. The same mom that I always judge and think to myself, "why is she letting her kids get away with that crazy behavior?" Well, I've learned my lesson because even though there was a point at which Alex was literally lying on the table, I was just happy that they weren't screaming bloody murder and trying to run away ;)
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7 comments:
Ha!! Isn't it funny too how your definition of "out of control" changes? We as moms are so sensitive to every little thing out kids do...so worried others are watching and judging! Take heart..if I saw your two with their french fry rubbing, ketchup eating, and laying on the table...I would never think of them as out of control. I would actually remark at how nice and quiet they are!! My kids ripped the "type A" personality right out of me when I began to be the person who leaves the restaurant with a HUGE mess under the highchair! Don't worry....I leave extra tip for their hard work in cleaning it up!! Kids change everything, that is for sure!! At least you had a nice dinner! YEAH!!
Motherhood is very humbling!
I have WAY too many stories to add! I am just glad to have a buddy in the whole mess.
Finally, I can leave a comment. Apparently, empty-nesters can't remember their Id and passwords. Raising kids leaves you brain-dead.
The fact that you two can continue to blog at all, much less so hilariously, means you're in the early stages of parental hazing; you still have a sense of humor.
Late-stage parental hazing occurs when your kids make you a grandma and it takes you 6 weeks to leave a comment on their blog.
So far, being a grammy is a blast, no stress at all. You guys might be feeling a wee bit challenged but I have total faith in God's preparation of you. My life was chaos before, during and after parenting so I have no idea what it's like to go from total control to total kids but two is better than one and education, a home and an extra decade...nah, it all goes out the window. You need two adults per child so you're two adults short already unless you move Larry and Ellen in. I'll just do weekends.
what are you complaining about? --grin
Sounds like a relatively peaceful dinner to me. ;-)
In addition to laughing near you, I offer you advice from the field of parental battle: always anticipate. Anticipate when they might need to go potty, anticipate which playground obstacles may lead to flesh wounds, and anticipate long dinners out in restaurants with unappealing kids food. Other than that, Dave should repeat the boyscout motto five times a day.
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