Nice boy! Nice boy!
Last night my mother-in-law and I made the mistake of taking Jack out to dinner. A few weeks ago, we took him with the whole family to a nicer place and it was a disaster of epic proportions that saw one half of this parenting team dragging a laughing/hitting/jello-legging toddler into the lobby and the other half sitting with same child in the car while everyone else shoveled food into his or her mouth in an attempt to get the hell out of there with a minimum of embarrassment.
Upon leaving that restaurant, I had aged 15 years and vowed that was the last time we were taking him anyplace besides Panera or Chipotle. But last night, I faltered in my reserve and was witness to some very nice behavior at the park, so I mistakenly thought I could trust him to handle it.
NOTE TO SELF: The toddler, he is the master of deception.
We arrive at the restaurant, J. Alexanders, and get both the kids situated in high chairs. I order Jack a grilled cheese and set about feeding Emmie her avocado and sweet potatoes. He takes three bites of his sandwich and flings his milk to the floor, screeching and trying to grab everything off the table. After several warnings, I told him we would be leaving and going home, where he would be going straight to bed. It was 6:20 p.m., but I was not backing down.
The waiter was literally bringing our food to the table at the moment I am dragging jello legs out of the high chair, so my mother-in-law gets the food to go and stays with Emmie while they pack it up.
If you were driving through Lincoln Park last night just before 6:30, that would be me you saw with the toddler who did nothing the whole way home but sob, "Nice boy! Nice boy! Jack nice boy!" over and over and over again. When we got home, I took his shoes off, marched him straight upstairs, put his pajamas on, read him his book and put him in bed.
I was downstairs by 6:30 p.m. and he was asleep by 6:40. He ended up sleeping 12 hours and was bright and chipper for oatmeal this morning.
Tonight, he kept unbuckling the straps on his carseat (a whole other post, but suffice it to say it raises my blood pressure by about 30 points every time he does it) and I told him if he did it again, we would have to go home. He looked me straight in the eye with a smile and said, "Right bed?"
ARGH.
Upon leaving that restaurant, I had aged 15 years and vowed that was the last time we were taking him anyplace besides Panera or Chipotle. But last night, I faltered in my reserve and was witness to some very nice behavior at the park, so I mistakenly thought I could trust him to handle it.
NOTE TO SELF: The toddler, he is the master of deception.
We arrive at the restaurant, J. Alexanders, and get both the kids situated in high chairs. I order Jack a grilled cheese and set about feeding Emmie her avocado and sweet potatoes. He takes three bites of his sandwich and flings his milk to the floor, screeching and trying to grab everything off the table. After several warnings, I told him we would be leaving and going home, where he would be going straight to bed. It was 6:20 p.m., but I was not backing down.
The waiter was literally bringing our food to the table at the moment I am dragging jello legs out of the high chair, so my mother-in-law gets the food to go and stays with Emmie while they pack it up.
If you were driving through Lincoln Park last night just before 6:30, that would be me you saw with the toddler who did nothing the whole way home but sob, "Nice boy! Nice boy! Jack nice boy!" over and over and over again. When we got home, I took his shoes off, marched him straight upstairs, put his pajamas on, read him his book and put him in bed.
I was downstairs by 6:30 p.m. and he was asleep by 6:40. He ended up sleeping 12 hours and was bright and chipper for oatmeal this morning.
Tonight, he kept unbuckling the straps on his carseat (a whole other post, but suffice it to say it raises my blood pressure by about 30 points every time he does it) and I told him if he did it again, we would have to go home. He looked me straight in the eye with a smile and said, "Right bed?"
ARGH.
posted by Amy at
7:45 PM
3 Comments:
OMG, I. am. so. afraid.
that is right around the corner for us, I can feel it.
fickleness, thy name is toddler.
*sigh* oh yes, eating out for us means mc'd's, Wendy's, or drive thru. Ethan is 4 so he is actually half decent, however my 2 year old, that's a different story. But the good thing is, we've all been there at some point and can all relate.
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