"Welcome to Abuelo's, would you like to see how much your kids can scream this evening?"
OK maybe they didn't say that but that is what happened. The night started out good. Alicia, I and the kids were going out to eat for the night with her family for her brother's 19th birthday. They had been at basketball tournaments all weekend and were up on the North side of Indy so we drove the 25 minutes to meet them for dinner at one of our favorite places to go, Abuelo's.
At 4:45pm we all got in the car and things started great. We got on the freeway and were headed towards the restaurant. By 4:58pm Alicia's mom called to check if we were there yet. When I said we were not there yet and that we were about 15 minutes away she gave me the "Well what are we going to do because our reservations are at 5:15pm" response. Quickly and fortunately with no sarcasm I asked if they would be there by then. They said they would so I just told them to go ahead and sit down. No brainier but you never know sometimes.
By the time we get to Abuelo's at 5:15pm (yes I drive very well/fast) both the kids were asleep. I don't know if anyone reading this is one of those "grumpy when woken up" people but I know my son gets it from me. In any case we get out of the car and wake Sawyer and Beckett up. Beckett is his normal self, all be it not quiet by any means, but Sawyer has turned into Chucky by the time we get to the table. Everything must die in this place. Sugar packets must be emptied into the fountain that is 3ft from the table, hands must be inserted into candles on every table, he must sit at every table except the one that the family is sitting, I don't even want to hear anyone talk to me and did I mention I want to scream and cry like you told me I have to shoot my own dog.
For all the times my son is a perfect kid who minds and tells you what he wants, he cashed in his chips tonight for the worse night out we've ever had. Worse than the night Beckett let us sit at Chili's right up to the point where the waitress was about to set the food down on the table, causing us to leave without even getting a bite of our food.
We tried everything to get Sawyer to calm down. We let him try and sit wherever he wanted. We tried to bribe him with food and chips and whatever else we could think of. Finally it was to the point where he wouldn't even sit in one place on the floor and scream so we forcefully (it took 3 of us) placed him in the highchair. Luckily he's big enough now where he can't easily get out of the chair.
 Sometimes I wish I had duct tape |
After 10 minutes of screaming he finally stopped throwing his fit but leave it to dad to ruin that. Once he finally stopped screaming I looked over at him and shortly there after he commenced screaming again. This gave us a total eating time of maybe 30 seconds. Not to mention that this whole time Beckett has been ok but still in the "OK I see mom so it must be time to eat" mood. Finally Alicia hands me Beckett and heads outside with Sawyer to cool him down. Unfortunately for me I wanted to take him in the bathroom 8 minutes ago for a good talking to in an environment that wasn't so friendly and where he couldn't just laugh and have something else to go look at.
I've now eaten probably half my food which was about the best thing I've ever gotten from Abuelo's before. I turn to see Alicia come in from outside with Sawyer who looks to not be screaming but still having tear stained cheeks. He again doesn't want to sit in his chair but he's ok sitting with Grandma. After 2 minutes of that he's had enough and wants to go walk around. The only alternative being he'll start throwing a fit again. I'm not the type of person to just let his kids cry and cause a fuss in a restaurant but A. Alicia wanted him to just sit there and know that he won't get his way and B. There is hardly anyone in the restaurant at this time and no one near us. Alicia on the other hand says her her food is just ok and after having spent the last 10 minutes outside I'd just be having OK food too.
As the seconds slip past Sawyer becomes more and more unmanageable. Finally Alicia grabs him to go out side and suggests we just get the food to go as neither of us is going to get to enjoy our eventing out. Well by the time Alicia comes back inside we've gotten boxes and begin boxing up our stuff. Before I we get it all boxed up Sawyer sprints around the restaurant into a private room where no one is. I take this as a good sign and stay in there hoping that the rest of the family can have a manageable dinner with out us. In the mean time back at the table the waiter has spilled tea onto Sawyer's plate which hasn't even been touched. Once I come back to the table Alicia has told me to have them take it off the bill and luckily the waiter comes back quickly and goes to get our ticket less 1 children's meal. After 5 minutes ( seemed like 60) our waiter returns with bill and card in hand surprisingly enough with everything taken off correctly. So after 35 minutes or so of restaurant fun under out belts we now have our food, out kids (we couldn't leave them there we asked) and what is left of our frail sanity.
As we get in the car to drive away I couldn't help but wonder how a perfectly simple thing like dinner out which we've done many times before has blown up in our face. The ride home is fine as both kids were out of energy (the were restrained too) and couldn't make too much of a fuss.
Fast forward to 10:30pm when Alicia and I sit down to watch some TV and eat our leftovers on the couch. So from now on who knows maybe we'll just make nice meals after bedtime or just spring for the baby sitter and actually have a nice night out with no worry of the kids going crazy.
