Eating Out

Taking 3 'vibrant' boys out to a restaurant is always a good growth process for their manners and my humility. We don't eat out very often because they like their food and it is always fairly expensive, so when we do it is such a treat.

Last Saturday we used our Tesco clubcard vouchers and ate our dinner in Pizza Express. Before arriving, we explained that other people will also be eating their meals out and so the boys needed to be on their best behaviour.

They tried, they really did.

It was clear that we don't eat out often enough when we had to explain 'starters' to Jonah and he asked, with disappointment, if the pasta was the pudding. His eyes widened in shock when we explained that he has THREE courses of food. This was a whole new revelation to him. And to me. 5 years old and he'd never had a starter. Oh dear, what a terrible mother I am.

Then the drinks arrived and were, helpfully, in glass bottles with straws. Against my better judgement, Jared had ordered them coca cola and so they sat, with straws plugged in their mouths, blowing noisy bubbles into the bottles. The drink in Max's bottle fizzed up so much that it transformed into a volcano and leaked like lava all over the table.

Quickly mopping up the spilt drink with the warnings of "this is the only drink you're having so don't do that again", we attempted to stop them drinking all their drinks before the food came.

Max's eyes almost popped out of his head when his pizza arrived. He was so hungry and he loves food so much that he immediately and enthusiastically, in true caveman style, grabbed the pizza with both hands and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Max, you've got a knife and fork"
"Eh? What?"
"You've got a knife and fork. Use them please."
"Well, how am I meant to eat pizza with a knife and fork?"
"You have to cut it up."

So, awkwardly and with great difficulty, he slowed himself down and attempted to eat his pizza more politely.

Halfway through the meal, the waitress brought over some small tea lights and placed them on our table. The boys were like moths to a flame. How many things could they try to burn without setting everything on fire? How many times could they swipe their fingers through the flame? How many fingers could be swiped at the same time? It was far too much of a temptation and I was very relieved when they accidently put both candles out with one of their experiments.

It was during the devouring of the Sundaes (oh how yummy they were) that I realised Max was singing very loudly. I am so used to lots of noise when we're eating our meals that his singing hadn't registered in my mind as something he probably shouldn't be doing in a restaurant. It had been going on for quite some time when I finally asked him to stop.

My heart went out to the couples dining around us. Their candlelit pizzas were overshadowed by the finger-eating, serenading boys at our table. I think they all breathed a sigh of relief as we left the restaurant.