My Dinner With Aubrey

It has been a long week of my nanny being on vacation and my ex being out of town, simultaneously. This leaves Amy to do it all by herself and if you were in the same restaurant as me and my 23 month old daughter this past Friday night, my most heartfelt apologies go out to you.

In twenty days I will have a two year old. AHHHHH! So many milestones in the last two years – first steps, first words, first “I love you mommy.” And to think only three years ago, if you told me I would be a single mom, living in the Valley I would have laughed in your face and run you over with my two-seater convertible. Well, time certainly marches on and this past Friday, my little Aubrey and I hit another milestone, together. A BIG one.

For the first time ever, I had to take her out of a public place for throwing a tantrum, and go home. I was enjoying a casual dinner at a restaurant with a friend and her older girls (10 & 13) and everything was going great. Food was ordered, beer was delivered and Aubrey was happily snacking away in her high chair, playing with the big girls. Then, chaos ensued…

NOW, to Aubrey’s credit, I’ve determined that it wasn’t actually a temper tantrum. I believe she went berserk from a sore mouth (2 year molars?). She bit into something that really hurt her and she just couldn’t bounce back from it. My little angel let out a series of blood curdling screams that made every head in the restaurant turn and stare, jaws agape, sneering looks. My friend’s daughter even covered her ears. It really was loud.

Take out number one. Exit to the sidewalk for some calming down and walking around. Once the crying subsided, I returned to the restaurant, put her back in her high chair and the screaming fired up again. Take out number two.

Cut to return to the restaurant a second time… I tried to get Aubrey to sit on my lap, to let me take a bite of food, but she wasn’t having it. We moved across the small restaurant to an empty table and she did finally relax, but not enough to stay. My friend kindly brought me my beer and my dinner in a to go container, packed up my diaper bag and brought it to me and after chugging half of my beer, I hit the trail for home.  I was bummed since I was REALLY hungry but more importantly, I had to leave half a beer.

Five minutes later, at home, my child was happy as a clam - playing nicely and watching Noggin. She even let me sit down and finish my dinner. This was all new and it really did suck, but I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t be one of those people who drags their kid everywhere and forces the whole world to deal with their unpleasantness. I chose to have the child, I will be the one to deal with her unpleasantness and it is my job to teach her how to behave in public. All toddlers throw tantrums or act inappropriately in public at times, but the parents and caretakers have to remember who is in control, even if it means sacrificing a meal and time with a friend.  This is simply my opinion.  I get that there are many schools of thought on the matter, but can’t we all agree that no one wants to listen to screaming in a public place? While I do have more sympathy for parents out in public with surly toddlers than I did in my pre-mommy days, I still think they need to pack it up and go at a certain point. PLEASE!

Cut to 9:10pm. I started writing this earlier in the day during my daughter’s nap, but wasn’t able to finish until now. My daughter is in bed, recharging her toddler battery, dreaming of pony rides and Yo Gabba Gabba. We had another nutty day today, as Aubrey is trying to decide whether or not she wants to be a one or two nap-a-day girl. Makes for some crazy behavior in the evenings and I just got done cleaning pee off my kitchen floor. Half a bottle of wine awaits me. Later skaters!