New Game Plan

The brilliant author of Motherhood Matters is always one step ahead of me. And she has 1.5 more kids than me. Good for her. No seriously I'm thinking of stalking her next time I visit the 'rents in Hotlanta. Again appropriate use of 'Hotlanta'-if you are planning to stalk someone while there. Or a bachelorette party. Or if you hit an armadillo on the way. Shady visits people. Not a family getaway to the aqarium.
Once again, I digress. It seems this clever gal is living my life and writing about it before I can form the sentences. So new game plan. I'm gonna let her write a post then comment here. It will be a two-fer for my 5 faithful readers (my aren't I optimistic?).
Her recent post on eating out was laugh out loud funny. It also fell under the category of sad, but true. I found it so amusing I read it out loud to Hubs, pausing to giggle throughout. I hate being read to, or reading to someone. It's annoying and never as funny this way. That's how funny I thought it was.
Then we decide to eat out after Easter service. We have dear friends, Mimi and Michael, DINK's no less, who are in town without family as well so we thought spending the meal together would be pleasant. In a sane moment Hubby talked me out of my first choice, Firebrids. We decided to ruin Easter for poorer people. McAlister's was next on the list but closed so we roll into O'Charleys. We're in the back which is smart. It's looking like it just might work. Mimi is in grad school for school psychology and has taken to travelling with toy bugs in her purse. It's like having a backup mom, only one who is better prepared. All of this in our favor and NO. Still a disaster.
I spend the majority of the time with C and I'm used to the antics she can pull while in public. Especially restaurants. Hubs is not and will one day keel over from a heart attack it causes him so much stress. The waiter brings our check seconds after delivering the food. We didn't even have to ask. He was just ready to get rid of C. Hubs was so mortified he buys our friends' lunch. They were gracious and adamant in trying to pay, but for him it was more important we see them again socially than save a few bucks. Mimi is like a fun aunt and really thought nothing of the event. She has seen C covered in salsa and taking a poop. This was trivial to some meltdowns she has witnessed.
The moral for Hubs and I-we know better. As parents you always know better. There are optimal eating out times and places. This was neither. Wings with TVs, fruit loops after a three hour nap~those are fighting chances. Lunch after church, dressed in white (as was I) when she's been awake already for 5.5 hours with people she loves and feels comfortable enough with to go bananas? It's a no brainer. Go home and eat scraps. In private.