Celebrating the Little Things...

Due to the food sensitivities of one of our kiddos (that I really will address in part 2 of "Food for Thought" at some point), one thing we haven't been doing is eating out.

Now if you know us at all, we used to eat out fairly regularly.  I am not sure it was weekly.  But it was at least twice a month.  And maybe sometimes more than that.

At the beginning of October, when we changed up our child's diet, that all came to a screeching halt.

I will confess, once in a great while, hubby and I grab a bite to eat.  Those rare date nights.

And three of the kids have had a meal or two out with friends.

But our family eating out has been non-existent.

Much to the dismay of our kids.

It is funny the things we grow accustomed to.

I can't say they accepted it gracefully.

Almost every Sunday after church (a common time for eating out), our kids have asked, "Can we please, please, please eat out today?" 

Sometimes they even chant restaurant names.

I have tried to be VERY careful about how I address it.

I don't want one child to feel the brunt of the siblings because of it.

I mean, it isn't the child really.

It is us.

Us because we know the child and the needs.

It is our decision.

That being said, here we are three months later.

We have learned a lot along the way. 

We are still learning.

But we at least have a pretty good idea about what works.  And what doesn't.

Since the holidays are over and things have settled down, I felt like it was time.

Time to try.

It used to be when we went out to eat that we would hop in the car and then try to figure out what kind of food we were in the mood for.

Easy peasy.

This time wasn't quite as easy. 

I had to do some legwork before.

I really researched both restaurants and menus.

Changed my mind a few times.

And finally settled on one.

Then I packed a few items up in a little "cooler".

Did a quick menu rundown with the child.

And finally we were ready to go.

I should mention that I post a menu in the kitchen every week, so the kids knew what we were doing.

And they were besides themselves with excitement.

One kid was counting down.  Daily.

The food sensitive kid could barely sit still Friday.

His teacher even knew that he was going out to eat.

So finally it was here.

We hopped in the car (with our little cooler) and went.

And it was good.

The kids (younger) were a bit out of practice with manners and took a bit of time to settle down.

But they finally did.

And we enjoyed every minute. Well, most minutes.

The ordering was a bit complicated but the restaurant handled it all with ease.

The food was good.

And I think the whole experience was much more appreciated this time around.

Happy and full, we came home and watched a little t.v. as a family before heading to bed.

The best part?

We didn't have any major fallout today (usually it is about a 12 hour delayed reaction).

It gives me hope.

We won't be eating out every week.  (We don't really need to anyway)

And our eating out locations will definitely be limited from now on.

But we now know it is possible.  We can do this.  

So today, we are celebrating the little things...

Reba