Date Night & Kids in Restaurants

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The idea of taking a two-year old out to eat always makes me a bit...anxious. What if there's a melt-down mid-meal? What if we interrupt someone else's meal?

On the other hand, I think it's important to teach kids how to behave in the wild, and so far, my angst has been worse than Jack's manners when we have ventured out. He thinks it's such a treat, and usually his dinner is much earlier than most of the serious NY diners, so we can't offend all that many people. We also live in a neighborhood that's notoriously kid-friendly, which is definitely a perk.

However, I also feel like there's safety in numbers, so I'd never been out to eat with just Jack.

Last week, Peter had a business trip that took him out of town for two nights. On Thursday night, I really didn't feel like cooking, so I bit the bullet and asked Jack if he'd like to go out to eat--just the two of us. He was so excited about it. When I asked him what he wanted, he replied with his standard "noodles. and pasta." When I suggested we try something different, he thought for a minute and said, "fish!"

So, we walked a couple of blocks to the Grand Central Oyster Bar in Brooklyn and ordered home made fish sticks for him, some ($1!) oysters for me, and a side of rice and broccoli to share. It was such a lovely night. Here's hoping next time I'll be a bit more relaxed throughout the meal. :)

What are your thoughts? We have a friend who takes his son out for dinner every Thursday night, and also out for breakfast one morning every weekend. It sounds like such a nice tradition.