This Is Why You Get a Babysitter

Saturday night we went to Applebee's to use a gift certificate I had gotten for my birthday. We have always taken the kids with us when we go to dinner and they are always great. They weren't exactly bad this time, but they were a challenge. First, Ryan wanted to gnaw on the table. He then was frustrated because he wasn't getting any good "bites". (Yes, this grossed me out but I did scrub the whole area with antibacterial wipes once I saw his intention.) So he was kind of fussy; not real loud, just fussy. Then Emmie and Allie started poking each other and arguing over whose milk belonged to who. None of this would have been a problem if we were sitting next to another family, but unfortunately they seated a very old man and woman next to us. They were (not-so-subtly) staring at us. Then Allie had to get out and go potty so I took her to do that. Right after that our food came and we prayed. Then Emmie accidently fell off the edge of the booth. If you know Emmie well at all you know that she is a DRAMA QUEEN. So of course she broke out into sobs and wails. I scooped her up and quickly took her out of the restaurant until she had calmed down. We got back and managed to have a few minutes without incident until Ryan got one of his little hands on my plate and pasta bowl. Before I could even stop him he had pulled them off the edge of the table! Luckily I had already put the pasta into a to-go box. You see, the waitress had already dropped our check. And to-go boxes. Do you think maybe she was trying to tell us something?

The dishes didn't break, the kids stopped making noise, and even though the old man was muttering something about "kids" the old woman did give me a sympathetic smile as walked out. What a night!