Surprise! A Great Evening with Kids

For all the "bad" times with which children grieve us adults it sometimes seems shocking when we experience wonderful moments with them, especially in public. At least that is how I feel. I get very anxious at times when the children accompany me and my wife because kids can be somewhat unpredictable and decide to misbehave in moments when you need them to behave the most.

This evening started out no different. We were beginning our semi-consistent Family Fun Night ritual. We decided to go to a sit-down restaurant in the bustling town of Hermiston. A certain individual of the family wanted Mexican. The certain individuals paying for the evening wanted Thai. We tried to talk it up by highlighting the unique, rustic, tavern ambiance and the sweet, sugary orange chicken of the Thia restaurant . Apparently we weren't convincing enough, the protest was actually very tame, and we decided to go to the Thai place anyway.

Side note: we don't normally pillage, but along the way to eat we couldn't pass up the opportunity to free up the side of the highway from bag fulls of fresh yellow onions. Now they won't go to waste on the side of the road and we don't have to make a trip to the store and buy some. Is dumpster diving next?

The kids were great in the restaurant. They liked some things we ordered and didn't like others - but they tried new things! They were intrigued with the decor and the fancily displayed pink napkins. They didn't ask for anything other than water to drink. They used appropriate voice levels and conversation topics, meaning, no "potty" sounds. I'm sure the people around us appreciated that, even without knowing it. They didn't draw attention to our table when told we weren't getting dessert. They were patient even while expressing concerns about the amount of time things were taking.

We went to the park afterward to play. They were enjoying themselves, but got in the car when we told them it was time to go.

We decided to end the evening with ice cream from our local grocer to be enjoyed in the comfort of our own home. Aside from spitting out the cookie dough chunks to be saved for the end, it was great. Mostly because they didn't clamor for seconds.

So, I'm glad we had a great evening with kids.