Bravery? I believe what you are referring to is called PARENTING!

Listen, I love my kids, I really do. It doesn't mean that it is easy to go out for dinner, especially when it come to going out with all three. It is hard enough just to get ready with diapers, wipes, extra clothes and all the other things I routinely forget to bring with us. Then get all three dressed and in the car.

I find the best way to have a good evening is by setting low expectations. Take for example my dad's 60th birthday dinner. We went to the Manderin restaurant. The first thing Rhys ate he choked on and threw up. Then he had a massive poo which required a new change of clothing. Then Declan vomitted all over the carpet on the way out of the restaurant. Not to be outdone, Rhys then proceeded to get stuck in the revolving door as some ignorant people refused to stop pushing as I fought to move it the other way to release his leg while he lied there screaming. Leighton of course, slept through the whole thing!

Will we avoid going out for meals because of it? No. Will we need to remortgage our house to feed three teenage boys? Maybe!

My Bravest Moment

So I did something incredibly brave the other day: I took my 2 year old to a restaurant on my own. Past experience indicated that this could have been a total disaster but I thought that it would be fun to do just the two of us.

Luckily for me the table beside us had a kid who was a hellion. I love when that happens because it makes my kids seem like angels. Rhys just used the walls as drums for his fork, jumped up and down on the bench and almost spilled his drink a dozen times. He didn't have a meltdown, he didn't scream, and he didn't hit me the way that little monster beside us did.

I have to admit I felt a big smug knowing that they were sitting there embarrassed and jealous of that my little imp was being so good. At one point Rhys asked why the little boy was crying and I told him that sometimes people are just sad. He looked at me and just kinda nodded.

We finished our meal, paid our bill and went on our way. As we left the boy was screaming that he wasn't allowed to go into the treasure box. I just smiled.

Let me be entirely honest. Andrea and I have taken the boys out for dinner on more than one occasion and it hasn't gone terribly well. Declan has thrown up more than once, meltdowns have been had and we have sworn more than once that we will never go out to dinner with them again. Like I said, I was very brave the other day!