Chicken Nuggets, French Fries And a Pack of Napkins

With the recent holiday weekend I've had a chance to spend a little extra time with the boys. Of course we decided to eat out once or twice. Without a doubt this got the wheels a turning. Nothing like a night out with the family to help inspire a fresh blog post.

My boys are now 6 and 4. I have always enjoyed going out to dinner with them, even through the terrible twos when kicking and screaming was the high point of dinner conversation.

I vividly remember Potter going through the "I'm too big for a high chair phase," and the "I'm too small for a regular chair phase," at the same time. Nothing like trying to balance a toddler on your lap while attempting to digest a meal at the Olive Garden. My husband would just give me that look. The one that said: "Why are we here?" "Couldn't we have waited another 2 years?"

Well, I guess we could have waited. But I live under the assumption that there is a lesson in everyday life. I wondered who would teach my children how to act in a restaurant if they didn't get to experience it until they were six. I have witnessed those children. I've also watched the mother balance her toddler on her lap while attempting to eat her lasagna. (Been there, done that!)

While we are still working on "best behavior practices," we have yet to master the art of spilling. Despite the lovely person (undoubtedly a mother) who invented the safety lid, my children have learned how to to tip their cups in such a way as to blow a lid right off the top. At this rate we should just offer them champagne flutes.

In the years of their existence, I have yet to sit at a dry table. I have finally realized that celebrating a "no spill" dinner takes place in the parking lot. For if I bring up the subject at the table, inevitably the children will get so excited that one is guaranteed to push over a cup.

And everyone knows what that means....Check Please!