Eating out with my family is not for the faint of heart.

Having three children under 10, one of them with special needs, I really can’t expect that they all will sit quietly for an entire meal, especially when we’re out in a fun, loud place.  I would love, love, love it if they would sit, conversing sweetly while we all enjoyed a nice meal, but that will probably not happen for a long time.

This was perfectly evident tonight.

A friend invited us to go out for pizza tonight; Mark bowls on Monday nights, so the timing was perfect. Going out with friends on a Monday night is always more fun than hanging out at home, and as usual, I had absolutely no desire to cook.  I happily accepted the invitation, and we met them at a local restaurant.

The kids were way wound up, because we typically don’t go out on weeknights, and they were excited to see our friends.  They were loud, but a good loud; laughing, and being silly.  I was totally fine with that.  My kids never seem to know when to put the brakes on, though, and it quickly began to deteriorate.

You would probably believe me that a full cup of chocolate milk spilled all over everything, and that someone hit their head on the side of the table.  You might also believe that one of the kids insisted on calling his brother a “smart ass”, more than a few times.  You would probably giggle if you read that one of the kids may have had an accident, then announced to the restaurant that he did, in fact, pee his pants.  You would probably bust out in full-on laughter if I told you that one of the kids dropped his pants, in the middle of the dining room, for all the world to see his junk.  Would you believe, though, that my kids are responsible for all of these stunts?  All of those things, and more, happened tonight during the same meal.


Faaaaaantastic.


Miraculously, we made it through dinner, pretty much in one piece, and without getting kicked out of the place.  Even more surprising was that our dinner companions did not try to sneak out while I was busy juggling shenanigans.  Yes, kids will be kids, but wow. Tonight pushed those boundaries.

Dining out with my family is always an adventure.  Hopefully, our friends will be brave enough to join us again.  Maybe next time we’ll order take out.  😉