Twins and Restaurants…

Friends or Foes?

Remember those quiet, candlelight dinners you used to enjoy on special occasions? How about those dishes with exotic ingredients like rosemary, essence of lemon, and olive oil?

I suppose that these memories are deep within the recesses of your brain since your restaurant etiquette is now reserved for fast food burger joints and foods that come as “fingers.” Perhaps you wonder if you will ever have the opportunity to eat at a fancy restaurant again now that you are the parent of twins.

You might want to skip the swanky five star restaurants unless you have a babysitter, but you should still enjoy a meal out on occasion as your wallet and sanity permits. Seriously, you can dine out with your twins and have an enjoyable meal. And the best part? You can leave the spilled milkshakes and spaghetti mess behind in the booth!

Going out to eat should be a fun treat for you, your significant other, and your kids. Of course, you are probably imagining two midget-sized monsters running around the tables, kicking other patrons, and screaming. That nightmare could resolve you to stay home forever.

But if you begin early – like when your kids are babies – by taking them out to restaurants, you will find that they will soon learn the proper way to behave. If you only dine at restaurants with your youngsters on rare occasions, expect many tantrums, refusals to sit still, and veal parmigiana all over your pants.

taking the twins out to a restaurant - riding in style - and dressed to the 9's

Choose Kid Friendly Spots

So, you have decided to take your kids out to eat. Choose a great restaurant that either caters to or is friendly to kids. If the place has a children’s menu, offers a lively atmosphere (that will drown out the pleas of “I’m hungry!”) and provides goodies to keep the young’uns occupied while you wait for the food, run, don’t walk to that establishment.

Among the kid-friendly and family-oriented places to visit with your children are Friendly’s, Pizzeria Uno’s, TGI Friday’s, and Denny’s. But while these chains offer things for the kids, you can also find family-friendly restaurants in every town. You just have to give the restaurant that you want to visit a call ahead of time to see if kids are welcome.

As soon as you are seated at your table, your waiter or waitress will come over and see about drinks for your party. At this moment, quickly glean the menu and select what you will order for the twins. Ask your waiter to put the kids’ order in early so that it will arrive faster than your meals. This will mean less time for your kids to get antsy and bored.

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Keep Them Busy

While waiting for your food to arrive, have some activities on hand to keep your kids occupied. Many restaurants now cater to youngsters by having coloring books or doodling placemats with crayons so that the kids have something to do while they wait for feeding time at the zoo. Don’t expect that every restaurant you visit will have some goodies for the kids. Not every restaurant with a kids’ menu has activities to keep them busy.

Load up a tote bag of goodies from a discount store or dollar store with items that will hold your kids’ attention for awhile but won’t be a big deal if you accidentally leave some of the items behind at the restaurant. Some suggestions for the bag of goodies are coloring books, crayons, stickers, books, small cars, small dolls, puzzles, and drawing paper.

Keep a stash of healthy snacks in the bag as well like juice boxes, water bottles, peanut butter crackers, dry cereal, or raisins. While you would hope that the kids could hold out until the food arrives, don’t count on it. Give them a few crackers or a box of raisins to tie them over until their meals are served.

Your best bet is to keep the bag in your car so you have it for spur of the moment trips to restaurants. It’s also a great idea that the items in the bag are not things that the kids regularly play with at home. If you buy coloring books and puzzles for the bag, only let the twins have them when you are out to eat. It makes the stuff more appealing and fun rather than boring them with the same things that they have at home.

Something New

As you enjoy the new atmosphere around you, encourage your children to try and taste new dishes. It’s okay to order them a safe standby like pizza or chicken fingers, but allow them to sample from your dish so that they have the chance to try different foods. While adults often enjoy the dishes that are tried and true, it’s always nice to eat an entrée that you wouldn’t normally make at home. Sampling from Mom and Dad’s plates will give your little ones the ability to make new decisions about food and possibly open their culinary tastes to something beyond fries and pancakes.

While you are at the restaurant, remember to praise your kids for their outstanding behavior. When you leave and are getting into the car, tell them how proud you are of them for being so good while you were out to eat. They will learn that eating out is a positive experience.

Of course not every trip out to eat is going to be a wonderful experience with your kids. There will be moments when you have cranky, whiny little ones who just can’t sit still until the grilled cheese sandwiches arrive. In that case, just go with the flow. Figure you’ll leave the mess behind for the waiter to clean up!

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