My Kids Aren't Perfect. What???

My older daughter is obsessed with pigs.  She is kind of obsessed with all animals, but she is hardcore obsessed with pigs.  When I have the time and ability to do so, I try to encourage the passion of the moment with field trips to see whatever the "thing" is.  It is a great way to let her know that her interests are valued by me, as well as an easy way to sneak a little bit of learning in, and I am a fan of anything that gets a bored toddler out of the house!

So, today, pigs.  This involved a 90 minute ride in both directions, and a failed car nap attempt from each child.  It was so worth it, as we all had a blast, but as I'm sure you can imagine,it meant that the ride home was a bit painful.  At some point during the ride, it occurred to me that we had no food in the house, and that the dinner hour was imminent, so I made the dubious decision to stop a few miles away from home and take the girls into a restaurant, by myself, after 90 minutes in the car, and no naps.  Can you see where I went wrong??

It.  Was.  A.  Disaster.

The only thing I did right was to pick a casual pizza place.  We got our pizza, and I was able to stop them from re-heating the slices, so the girls were able to start eating right away.  And then, it happened. The toddler threw her pizza on the floor after two bites, stood up in the booth (they had no high chairs) and began dancing, waving, and yelling at the man sitting in the booth behind us.  As I retrieved her pizza (while holding the baby) she reached over, grabbed the salt and pepper, and began sprinkling it all over the place.

I was mortified.  I cleaned up as best I could, and then managed to drag/carry the girls and our dinner out to the car while calmly explaining to her that her behavior was unacceptable.  I didn't belabor the point too much though, as this was entirely my own fault.

By the time we got home, the two bites of dinner she had taken had hit her stomach, and she was back to her calm, reasonable self, thank goodness.  I know we don't always get to parent under perfect circumstances, but we can still find a way to adapt to the situation and make the best of it.  I didn't do that.  I screwed up.

If I could do it all over again, I would have done one of two things.  I would have either brought the kids to the grassy area behind the restaurant and let them run their hooligans out before trying to make them sit nicely, or had pizza delivered to the house and let them play in the back yard while we were waiting for it.  Cranky, over-tired kids who have been cooped up in the car all day are not great dinner companions.

The dinner snafu aside, it truly was an amazing day.  There is nothing better than watching your child's dreams come true.