The first version of Dining Out with Kids was written when my girls were 3 and 5 years old. It was initially posted in a mom e-zine and which I reposted in 2011.
In that post, I was exploring way on how to keep my girls busy during dining out; while we are waiting to be served, waiting for food, waiting for to be seated even.
Now for this latest version of dining out with kids, I am showing you images instead of my now 8 and 10 year old girls...
This is our first time in this restaurant. We wanted to try it because IC's first communion is scheduled next year and we are planning for her celebration and part of the excitement is food tasting :-)
We chose the restaurant because it is very near the church. And because it looks friendlier and more inviting than the others. And because the owner is a neighbor and an old acquaintance of my husband. Hmm, what else? Most important, because it is open the whole day. Like in my first post, I checked their website for the opening hours, you see, we continue to dine early. The only difference is, I didn't bother to call if they have seats for small kids.
Anyway, we were greated warmly by the waiter and immediately found a nice corner. We got the menu and slowly read through the menu, discussing with each other. We always try to negotiate so that everybody would be happy with each other's choices, after all, we would want to taste what's on their plates, too!
After giving our orders, we settled in. Usually, this is when I pull out all the tricks I stuffed in my bag to keep my girls busy. Not this time. My girls simply opened the books that they brought along and started reading quietly.
My husband and I looked at each other. Admittedly, I feel a bit strange and I guess he felt it, too. Something is amiss. Then our eyes locked and we realized, it's the silence!
The girls were so engrossed with reading that we missed their never-ending chats, their long sighs of impatience, their need to move around, their chair and table pushing.
Well, we enjoyed the silence, chatting a bit in between, because the girls tend to shush us up as they wanted to concentrate on reading.
In the end? The girls said we should also bring some books next time so that we won't get bored while waiting for our food :-)
(I think they took pity on us as we started reading the stacks of brochures scattered around the restaurant)
Oh just to let you know, they girls do tend to arm themselves whenever they know there will be waiting involved. Aside from books, they also bring some games, pencils and papers, and some of their playmobil and barbie items. No electronic gears for any us, and I am not sorry!
I guess, it's almost the same in my first dining post, except this time, my girls are the ones packing what they want and they tend to get busy without being prodded into it.
The big difference? They are able to sit still and play quietly, well, at least, most of the time :-)
And you know, I will follow their advice and bring a book for me and my husband next time, too.
(Or most probably, we'd ask them to go find another table while they are reading so my husband and I could talk and dream together while waiting for our food.)
In that post, I was exploring way on how to keep my girls busy during dining out; while we are waiting to be served, waiting for food, waiting for to be seated even.
Now for this latest version of dining out with kids, I am showing you images instead of my now 8 and 10 year old girls...
 |
| IC brought a book and got involved with it immediately after selecting her dinner |
 |
| MC got busy with her book, too. |
We chose the restaurant because it is very near the church. And because it looks friendlier and more inviting than the others. And because the owner is a neighbor and an old acquaintance of my husband. Hmm, what else? Most important, because it is open the whole day. Like in my first post, I checked their website for the opening hours, you see, we continue to dine early. The only difference is, I didn't bother to call if they have seats for small kids.
Anyway, we were greated warmly by the waiter and immediately found a nice corner. We got the menu and slowly read through the menu, discussing with each other. We always try to negotiate so that everybody would be happy with each other's choices, after all, we would want to taste what's on their plates, too!
After giving our orders, we settled in. Usually, this is when I pull out all the tricks I stuffed in my bag to keep my girls busy. Not this time. My girls simply opened the books that they brought along and started reading quietly.
My husband and I looked at each other. Admittedly, I feel a bit strange and I guess he felt it, too. Something is amiss. Then our eyes locked and we realized, it's the silence!
The girls were so engrossed with reading that we missed their never-ending chats, their long sighs of impatience, their need to move around, their chair and table pushing.
Well, we enjoyed the silence, chatting a bit in between, because the girls tend to shush us up as they wanted to concentrate on reading.
In the end? The girls said we should also bring some books next time so that we won't get bored while waiting for our food :-)
(I think they took pity on us as we started reading the stacks of brochures scattered around the restaurant)
Oh just to let you know, they girls do tend to arm themselves whenever they know there will be waiting involved. Aside from books, they also bring some games, pencils and papers, and some of their playmobil and barbie items. No electronic gears for any us, and I am not sorry!
I guess, it's almost the same in my first dining post, except this time, my girls are the ones packing what they want and they tend to get busy without being prodded into it.
The big difference? They are able to sit still and play quietly, well, at least, most of the time :-)
And you know, I will follow their advice and bring a book for me and my husband next time, too.
(Or most probably, we'd ask them to go find another table while they are reading so my husband and I could talk and dream together while waiting for our food.)
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