Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Our family went out to eat last night. Fortunately I no longer spend all day cooped up in the house, frightened to inflict the world on our delicate babies and vice versa. We’re even developing a routine: Ellie hauls the twins in their carriers, stakes out the biggest open table, and plops them on top to reserve it. Meanwhile, I toddle with Abbie into the restaurant, find our table, and stand next to it watching all three children while Ellie walks up to the counter to pick out her meal. When she returns, Abbie and I walk up to the cashier, order Ellie’s meal, my meal, and a kid’s meal with white milk and a toddler toy. I drop off a high chair, pick up plasticware, napkins, and drinks, and return to the counter to pick up our food that should be ready. With the food at the table, I lock Abbie into the high chair, and by the time we’re ready to eat our purchased food, Ellie should have both Podees* set up and in the twins’ mouths. At this point we’re ready to eat, no matter what kind of sob story the restaurant workers give us about wanting to go home because they closed 45 minutes ago.
As we began eating, a woman walked up to the booth behind us, led by her (approximately) 8-year-old granddaughter, a girl who I believe had Down Syndrome. At first the woman was horrified to see that her granddaughter decided to sit so close to other people that she could potentially bother. When she saw our menagerie though, she felt much better about the choice, saying something about how we’ll never even notice her daughter with our three kids. I’m pretty sure that’s an insult to someone’s offspring, but I’m not sure whose; I’m guessing all four children. She also muttered something about us having our hands full, which seems to be what everyone says to us when they want to say something, but don’t know what.
We continued eating, shoving food into Abbie’s mouth, returning rejected Podee nipples into the twins’ mouths, and occasionally even putting food into our mouths. At one point another couple walked up to our table, wanting to know if they could ask us a question. They were curious about how the Podee worked. Then they noticed that we had two babies on the table. Then they noticed we were also trying to feed Abbie. I think they were originally hoping we had a good reason for being so callous as to feed our baby without holding or even touching him. I assured them that we had a good reason and we weren’t just being lazy. They wished us luck and remarked on how we have our hands full.
We finished eating, cleaned up our trash, and packed all of our belongings. We left much like we entered with Ellie carrying the twins and me toddling with Abbie. As I walked out the door, I realized that I didn’t hear much from the girl next to us during the meal. For all her grandmother’s fuss, the girl was a well-behaved 8-year-old. Or maybe the grandmother was right and I just didn’t notice with our three children.
* In case you’re unfamiliar, a Podee is an ingenious hands-free feeding device. It’s essentially a long straw with one end that goes into a bottle, and a nipple attached to the other end. It’s a pain to set up, take apart, and clean, but a lifesaver when you’re trying to feed yourself and three children simultaneously.
As we began eating, a woman walked up to the booth behind us, led by her (approximately) 8-year-old granddaughter, a girl who I believe had Down Syndrome. At first the woman was horrified to see that her granddaughter decided to sit so close to other people that she could potentially bother. When she saw our menagerie though, she felt much better about the choice, saying something about how we’ll never even notice her daughter with our three kids. I’m pretty sure that’s an insult to someone’s offspring, but I’m not sure whose; I’m guessing all four children. She also muttered something about us having our hands full, which seems to be what everyone says to us when they want to say something, but don’t know what.
We continued eating, shoving food into Abbie’s mouth, returning rejected Podee nipples into the twins’ mouths, and occasionally even putting food into our mouths. At one point another couple walked up to our table, wanting to know if they could ask us a question. They were curious about how the Podee worked. Then they noticed that we had two babies on the table. Then they noticed we were also trying to feed Abbie. I think they were originally hoping we had a good reason for being so callous as to feed our baby without holding or even touching him. I assured them that we had a good reason and we weren’t just being lazy. They wished us luck and remarked on how we have our hands full.
We finished eating, cleaned up our trash, and packed all of our belongings. We left much like we entered with Ellie carrying the twins and me toddling with Abbie. As I walked out the door, I realized that I didn’t hear much from the girl next to us during the meal. For all her grandmother’s fuss, the girl was a well-behaved 8-year-old. Or maybe the grandmother was right and I just didn’t notice with our three children.
* In case you’re unfamiliar, a Podee is an ingenious hands-free feeding device. It’s essentially a long straw with one end that goes into a bottle, and a nipple attached to the other end. It’s a pain to set up, take apart, and clean, but a lifesaver when you’re trying to feed yourself and three children simultaneously.
posted by Matt at
11:09 PM
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