Dinner Party for 4....

When I arrived home last night, I was greeted at the door by both of my children asking “what is for dinner”.  I laughed and responded with “can I come in the house first?”  Once I got in the house, I plopped on the sofa and started talking with my mother.  The children were soon to follow in the conversation and I found myself being persuaded to go out for dinner.

The normal “out for dinner” event consists of a “drive thru” or a quick meal spot.  This time, my daughter was begging to go somewhere that we could sit down and eat.  She kept saying “I want to go to a fancy restaurant”. I kept thinking “can they handle a sit down meal” or better yet “can I handle a sit down meal”. 

After much persuasion, we loaded into the car and headed to a local mom and pop restaurant down the road.  During the ride to the restaurant, I kept reminding the children of the following: you must use your inside voice, you must use your manners, and you must behave.

As we get out of the car to enter the restaurant, the kids are a ball full of energy.  My daughter was jumping around and letting out the “hoorays” and my son was “fast talking” about what he wanted to eat.  At that moment, I realized this may be a mistake but I kept moving forward and we were soon requesting our table “Dinner Party for 4” (of course I brought my mother with us for motherly backup)

To my surprise, the children were in “awe “of the decorations and seating.  We were actually sitting in a booth that was made to resemble a horse carriage.  I could see the excitement in their faces and I realized… “it was not a mistake but more a learning lesson for us all”. 

We ordered our meals, chatted, took pictures, and headed home.  As we were driving back to our house, I took a moment to tell them how proud I was of them.  They used their “inside voices”, “manners intact”, and were overall on their “best behavior”.  In fact, we have now decided that this will become a monthly occurrence…

So in Keeping it REAL, having dinner dates with your children can be fun.  It may not always go this smoothly but, over time; they will learn to “behave” when eating at a “fancy” restaurant.  Let them dress up and play the part.  If you never take them out (like me), try it!  I feared the “worst” for years and now I realize that they are more proud of the adventure then me.  I even found that this was the BEST date I have had in YEARS.  I can’t wait for our next “Dinner Party for 4”