Dine and Dash

I have a whole new appreciate for restaurants like Chilis or Red Robin or even fast food places, where parents of three children can walk in and enjoy a meal without judgement.

Today we went to a cute Cafe in Los Gatos.  Josie knew from the second we walked in that there wasn't anything fried on the menu.  "This is not a good place," she said.

"We are trying something different.  Your Dad and I want to eat too, you know."

"Okay fine," Josie mumbled.  "But we better be getting ice cream after."  A finely dressed woman looked up from her ipad and looked down at my sassy daughter with a disapproving look.  "She's a treasure," I said and mirrored her disapproving look right back to her.

My husband managed to group together a few small tables for two so that we could all sit together.  The manager of the restaurant watched in horror wishing he had bolted them down.  A long line formed behind my husband while he tried to order a meal suitable for his family of 5. 

I overheard a woman saying, "that family just sat down but they haven't ordered yet."  I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of all 5 of us waiting patiently in line to order together.  I looked around for a sign that forbids people with children, or at the very least with compassion, from coming into this cafe.

The food finally came.  I dropped 10 ice cubes in Emily's soup.  Josie complained about the shape of her sandwich.  Owen said he just wanted the bread, not the turkey. Emily grunted over and over and over because her soup was still too hot.   I don't think President Obama eating lunch with Madonna would have gotten more stares than we did during lunch.

In between telling our kids to sit down, be quiet, stop whining, Norm and I devoured our lunch.  We gave new meaning to the term fast food.  Even though the food was indeed healthier, we would have had more money in our pockets and less indigestion if we'd just gone to Chili's like the kids wanted.