Riding the Cart

On some mornings of the week Reese and I go to Restaurant Depot. They only have flat bed carts which are not meant for children to sit on. When Reese was really little, I use to take her car seat with its base and set it on the cart with her in it. When we switched car seats, I would take in my stroller or leave her at home with her dad while I went really early to the store.

Now, most mornings if we have to go together, I take her and either carry her and pull the cart or sometimes I sit her down on it. She has been really good about sitting in the middle of the cart, staying still, and holding onto the handle or basket of the cart.

This morning is the first morning that both my children had to go with me. Reese decides that this is the morning that she wants to stand on the cart and hold on, and Riley decides that he wants to walk, which is fine. In addition to the fact that Reese does not want to sit, the refrigerator door that is closest to what we need and to the registers is broken, and we have to go all the way around to the other door to the cooler. We travel very slowly, and I am holding onto the side of the cart with my hand on Reese's back. Once we get to the back door of the cooler, we have to travel back toward the front door to get the mushrooms and hamburgers that we need, and then back to the back door to leave the cooler.

Once I put the mushrooms on the cart, Reese crawled over to the box and was trying to get into it. I was wondering what she was trying to do and was afraid that she was going to crush my mushrooms. I finally figured out that she wanted a mushroom and I dug one out of box for her. That got her to sit down and eat the mushroom while I pulled the cart back toward the entrance.

The trials and tribulations of motherhood...

What makes parents happy...

When going out to eat, what makes parents happiest is when their children are happy. Twice in the past month we have gone to restaurants where my children have not been fed. These experiences are made even worse because I have a highly sensitive son who somehow thinks it is his fault that he does not get his food.

The first time at IHOP we ended up leaving after 40 minutes and watching all the tables around us get their food including people who were seated after us. When I asked the server where our food was, she said it would be right up, but continued putting in orders in the computer instead of checking where the food was. My husband asked our server where our food was and she continued to take customers' orders rather than check on our food. When my husband asked to speak to a manager, he waited for 10 minutes and no manager ever came to our table. Needless to say we came hungry, but we did not leave happy.

The second time at a local Japanese restaurant, we got all of our food and my son's chicken never came. It is difficult to enjoy dinner when your son keeps saying, "I'm hungry, where is my food?" Because we were almost done eating, we ended up cancelling his order and taking him to McDonald's afterward.

Please remember when families with children go out to eat, it is an effort that is only enjoyable if the children are happy. Order for and serve the children first and all will be happy.