Dining Outside: Before And After Kids

Remember those fancy dinners you had with your husband? You could just walk in a restaurant and have your favorite three-course meal if you had a rough day at work. It all sounds like an old story- isn’t it? You obviously love your kids but sometimes it’s okay to whimper because you have to take them along when you go out.

You no longer can completely enjoy the meal without checking for a poop emergency or a spit bubble. The only time you can actually relax when you’re at dinner with your kids is when they’re asleep. Of course, you have to make sure that they are well-fed before they fall asleep and that is a totally different task. We thought you might enjoy reading a list of things that you experience differently after you’ve had your baby.

Eating The Leftovers

Gone are the days when you read through the menu carefully and picked your favorite dishes (even if it was just a salad). Now, you will probably not order much for yourself because you know that your kids are not going to finish the meal they ordered. No matter how many times they say they’ll finish it, you know what’s the end of that tale.

Please Take Our Order For God’s Sake

You never really knew how time drifted away when you sat in that comfortable chair, enjoying the lovely music and the lovelier company of your favorite people. You could just go on and on about your day with them and the waiter coming to take your order might have seemed like an interruption. If you’re in for dinner with your kids, you’d probably be calling the waiter more than twice so that he takes your order as soon as possible. You don’t want your little ones to tear up the menu card or get into a fight over the meals.

Scurrying Out After The Crime Scene

Your baby may have cried, screamed bloody murder, or spilled crumbs all over the place. This is exactly why you need to casually pay the bill and walk out without turning back. There was no hurry to leave when it was just you and your husband – the longer you were at the dinner table, the better. Now you just have to get up and go home before you lose your sanity.

Apologizing- A Lot

“I’m so sorry” is probably the one phrase you’re going to use more than ever if you’re out in public with your baby. You won’t be able to walk in that stylish outfit and throw a classy glance at the whole room anymore. If you have a 3-year-old, you’ll probably not be able to eat much because you have to chase your baby every time he/she runs around the place causing havoc.

The Fellow Moms Around

When you were by yourself, you would stare at women trying to shush their screaming toddlers. You may have gotten annoyed or felt bad for the poor lady. Guess what? You’re one among them now and you feel for them. Now you know what exactly they face and you become all empathetic towards them. You might even try to strike a conversation about your babies.

Staying Up All Night Is Not Really Fun

Friday night is mandatorily a fun night that stretches till dawn. This is probably the one thing that didn’t change entirely after you had a baby. You do stay up till dawn on a Friday night- to take care of your baby who wouldn’t go to sleep. It’s not really fun, isn’t it? Dining out late at night, partying, a midnight movie, or unplanned ride- it’s all out of the chart for a while.

All these issues are just for some time and it’s totally worth the effort. Once they grow up, you are going to have a lot of amazing dinners, movie nights, and road trips with your children. When you get old and whiny, your child is going to hold your hand and take you out for dinner. All the embarrassment and irritation that you’re facing now will just be funny anecdotes in the future.

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