Restaurants or not

Back in the beginning of my motherhood, I took my infant to restaurants. As a matter of fact, we stopped at IHOP on the way home from the hospital because I wanted a big breakfast that was NOT hospital food.

She slept.  Awesome!  Taking an infant out to eat was GRAND.  She would nurse. I would eat. She would sleep.  I would sit.  It was all good.

Enter toddlerhood.  Oy.  Complete 180 of appropriate behavior. My MIL would walk her around the restaurant, my Mom would take her outside.  My toddler did not learn to sit at the table and let mommy eat until she was ... wait a second.  My 5 year old still has problems sitting at a table for a meal.  She is getting so much better, but she can't keep her little tush in a seat for 15 mins to save my sanity.

I think the reason is that I took a long hiatus on dinners out.  I refused to take her out to eat at all.  She did not have to learn to sit and behave in a restaurant.  Completely my fault because I did not think she was worth dealing with when all I wanted was someone else to cook for me.

Lesson learned. Lessons taught.

Now, when I take my children out to eat, they mostly stay seated, they eat some of their food, and it is so much better then toddlerhood.  We are still working on keeping our tushes in our seat at home, but I'd prefer them to act out in our own dining room than in a crowded restaurant.