Going out to eat

[laketide]

What is it like going out to eat with your 2 year olds? I have come to the conclusion we are in a phase of life that it is just over for now. We have tried everything - taking activities, snacks, and movies and games on the iPhones. Today was the worst though - she threw such a fit that I stood up to turn around and get her out of the booth and before I could turn around to get her she had fell - face first - on a concrere floor (she's fine thank goodness). A man even asked to sit on the opposite site of the restaurant as us - and I don't blame him a bit. We ended up getting our food to go. Anyone else struggling with this?

[ericalee27]

Going out to eat for me summed up so well by Ron Swanson



Seriously.....we only really do counter service or take out right now. Otherwise, it always turns into a shitshow. The thought of waiting for a check is enough to make me break out into a cold sweat.

[sagen]

I am sorry

My son is pretty good, he won't sit in a highchair, but he does well. I think he is good because he has eaten out a lot. We eat every Monday night out as a family, and once a week we shop at Sam's and he likes their hotdogs so we get lunch while we were out. He gets more practice than he should

[kleigh926]

We really don't take our kids to restaurants unless it's a buffet so we don't have to wait for the food to come. Waiting for food and a check is just not worth the hassle that I'm sure it would be. It's even harder now with two, but we were getting away from it even before DS was born. And DD wasn't usually badly behaved, she was just acting like a normal, very active toddler who didn't want to sit patiently and quietly for any length of time.

[brachysira]

My child, knock on wood, is not too bad eating out. She likes the high chairs. We usually only go places that serve crayons first, so we don't feel too much guilt if she's loud or whatever, since there are other places for people who do not want to hear kids. We also only go places that are pretty fast, she we know she won't be cool sitting around for 2 hours. We order her something like an OJ, or even water, and she loves drinking from a big cup with a big straw. We let her stack the jelly, play with an ice cube, eat soup crackers, or similar. We bring the phone on back up, but I don't think we've ever used it. We used to always have a snack, like baby mum mums, which was excellent as a stall, but now we usually don't and it's fine. We order her something small, and she's really into getting terrible food like fries, so although we have lost the nutrition battle, we have gained enthusiasm for going out. If it's really not going well, I just take her outside to walk around or to he foyer, if it is cold. That is just for others, since it probably rewards bad behavior, but that only usually happens at the end of the meal, so it's not so obviously altering the plan. If she refused high chairs and wasn't excited about the food, we probably would not go until she got older.

[colinsfebmommy]

I have a bag strictly for restaurants. So he only gets those activities and toys when out to eat. We don't go out a ton but when we do he is pretty good. But a real nice restaurant is for mommy and daddy only lol

[laketide]

Feb 20, 2015 15:32:14 GMT -5 ericalee27 said:

Going out to eat for me summed up so well by Ron Swanson



Seriously.....we only really do counter service or take out right now. Otherwise, it always turns into a shitshow. The thought of waiting for a check is enough to make me break out into a cold sweat.

ALL of this is exactly how I feel about it.

[jwill]

My kids are generally good in restaurants for whatever reason but we dont eat out much. dh and I went to dinner alone last night for the second time in 3 years. We went to a Mexican place so not fancy and we could have taken the kids but it was awesome. Mil stopped by because it was dhs birthday And volunteered to keep them...so peaceful. No correcting toddlers or prepping food. We may need to find a babysitter to use one day.

[wineandcake]

I just took Mac out for sushi tonight with friends and he was amazing. He ate a ton, played peek a boo with the waitresses when they walked by, talked up a storm, showed off his chopstick skills, and was overall great.... I went out earlier in the week with my sister and he was a terror (he was sick with a cold, I know we shouldn't have been out, but we're out of town and don't really have the option of isolating ourselves), I was about ready to leave after two minutes because he was soooo clingy and wouldn't let me eat or anything because he needed me to be cuddling him 100% of the time.

Normally he does amazing though. He loves to people watch, stack creamers, and eat food like a big boy. I like to take him out so he is used to it and knows that he needs to behave properly (like he does at home for meals) and that we don't run around like a wild child. Our town is extremely small and only has one restaurant, they know us there and are great with him and always bring extra crackers, watered down juice, and whatever activities they can find, it's great.

[aydee]

My kids are both surprisingly well behaved when we go out. They sit in the high chairs, are typically pretty quiet, and they eat pretty well. I always make sure to bring along food I can feed them right away while we're waiting for our order to come (things like goldfish, cooked peas and carrots, cucumber slices). I also bring toys/books as back up if we need to entertain them.

I think the only reason they're decent in public is that what we expect from them at mealtime at home is pretty much the same, although at home there's no wait for food. But they still sit in high chairs at home and they're used to staying in their chairs while we all eat together. We also never allow them to walk through restaurants (we always carry them to the table), so they don't really expect to be able to get down and walk around. All that being said, they could easily turn into restaurant terrors tomorrow. It's the nature of being two!

laketide, I'm sorry eating out is such a miserable experience right now. I hope it improves over time- until then, take out!

[sagen]

My kiddo doesn't do a highchair but has not, nor will he ever walk around. I have a strict rule of that. I was flexible on the highchair, firm on the no walking around. I actually find it cute that we sit for lunch at and he stays by me.

[dc2london]

Rhys usually does pretty well. We figured out around this age that Jack hated the high chairs (or would try to climb them) but was totally happy in a booth. If we sat in a booth, he could wiggle around a big and was still safe if he sat up on his knees to eat. That works well with Rhys, too.

We have restaurant bags for each kid that we keep in the van. They only come out if we are going to a restaurant. I keep things in there like Color Wonder kits, a few matchbox cars, a lolli for emergencies ( ), a couple of little Target dollar bin books, pipe cleaners (they like to make shapes, letters, etc), a few portable snacks (raisins, puree pouches). Also, unrelated pro tip: I keep a spoon in each of their bags. I can't tell you how many times we have been at a place with small children where they don't have spoons. Chipotle I think was one of them.

Anyway, between the restaurant bags and trying to stick to relatively family-friendly places they usually do ok. Also, we don't go out to eat very often so when we do, I pretty much let them eat what they want. You want french fries as your side dish? Fine. Go nuts. They eat well enough at home that I don't fret over occasional french fries. Plus it buys me precious precious quiet.

[holly321]

At this age, dd was terrible in restaurants. We avoided them when we could. We used the iPad if we could not avoid going. Ds does great. He loves food and watching people, so going out to eat is really exciting for him.

[Deleted]

DS does really well in restaurants. We've been taking him out to eat many times a week since he was born, so he's had plenty of practice. We usually stick with more family friendly places, and he's content with crayons and water until the food arrives. Our only issue is that once he's done eating, he wants to wash his hands and leave immediately. So we're working on the idea that mom and dad might not be done eating and he needs to be patient.

Another key thing is that we try not to go when he's hungry or tired. And if I know he's going to be hungry before the food arrives, I bring a pouch for him to eat because he loves those still.

[kbates85]

It's possible but not enjoyable. I feel this way about a lot of things right now. Like traveling, I don't understand people to willingly travel and go on vacations with kids this age. Maybe an UO? Maybe it's just my kid?

[summer]

Like many others, it depends. We have been going out at least once a week since DS was born, so maybe he got used to it. There was definitely a period where he was horribly awful if we went out. Now, we usually try to go somewhere that is either family friendly, loud, pretty empty, or that we can eat outside so he can run around as needed. I pretty much refuse to eat anywhere that has a wait.

I love the idea of the restaurant only bags; I may have to steal that.

And healthy food for DS hardly ever happens when we are out. DH loves to order him mac and cheese for some reason, so he gets it almost everywhere. He eats pretty well at home, so I don't mind. I don't eat terribly healthy when we are out either. ;-)

[jumparoundbucky]

Places I eat out with Wes: Anywhere with a drive through. Anywhere with a playplace. Anywhere that has a buffet. The backyard.

I make exceptions for lunch because it's served faster.

ETA: We used to take him out all the time and he was perfect. Now, he's started screeching at the top of his lungs and laughing and attempting to leap out of his seat and steal other people's food. Once I block this stage out, I'm sure we'll try again. Maybe he'll have grown out of it. 

[cinnasugar]

I remember when DD was about this age and DH and I had a few restaurant experiences where one of us had to take our food to go and take her outside. Not fun at all. DS is hit or miss. We don't go out all that much, but my experience has taught me that these are the best places: places where you order at the counter, Mexican (they bring chips and salsa so there's something to snack on right away) or a sports bar (at sports bars there are lots of tvs so good distractions and they are loud so no one can hear them if they scream). Yep. I bring my kids to bars. I'm talking bar and grill type places, not straight up bars. Plus beer.

[rosebean]

We don't eat out tons. We took him to the pancake house for his birthday and he was a bit rough given that he was in a bad mood before we even went. So I think I chalk my impression of his behaviour based on what he was like before we even got there. It was more about him wanting to drink his juice out of the cup they gave him, but I was trying to help him use the straw and stop tipping it. He didn't like that at all. DH ended up having to take him for a walk while our food was being prepped and I texted him when our plates arrived.

[singingsea]

Generally K is pretty good. I think it helps that DH works for a restaurant chain so we've been taking him out to restaurants since he was born. So he kinda knows what's expected of him but it definitely depends on his mood and if he's had a nap.

There have been many times we've had to have everything boxed up to go in the middle of a meal.

[pinkie]

Our son is usually really good in public - he reserves his tantrums and craziness for home. We have a baby too so we don't go out very often because it's just tough right now. We bring his favorite portable foods (goldfish, pouches) with us so he can snack while we wait for the food to come. The important thing we have learned is not to let him out of the high chair until close to the time we leave. The other thing is we try to arrive by 5:30 so we leave before it's too close to bedtime.