Now some of you might have read that my son cannot sit still. Since he mastered walking at 13 months (he is now 19 months, so thats 6 months of non stop-ness!) he finds it difficult to sit at meal times. Initially it was the novelty of walking, he just wanted to walk everywhere and practice his new found skills. Yes, I am that mom pushing the empty buggy while her son wants to walk or sit on my hip. A few months on now, he can sit, but only for 5-10 minutes. I tend to feed him at home beforehand, then take him out but sometimes we do want to step out without all the strategies. We also take the i-pad to distract him, but even now this is hit and miss.The one time we had a pleasant experience was at a pizza restaurant where there was a large tv screen and the kids were allowed to play with pizza dough. That was the first time in a while that my hubby and I felt relaxed and actually breathed between mouthfuls.
My daughter who will be 4 in May, was a totally different kettle of fish. She could be persuaded to sit and eat, and for her eating was and has always been a way of socialising. Even if she ate at home before, she was happy to participate in the conversation, nibble on starters and enjoy dessert. My son is not there yet. And I guess it is this difference that my husband and I are struggling with.
So lets get back to that dinner experience. I knew by the time we got to the restaurant Samar would be famished. He had barely snacked since lunch time and when my boy eats he has a good appetite. I was feeling positive. How delusional was I? He sat in a high chair when we got there, had to be persuaded to continue to sit in it by having juice with a straw. Then when his food came, he literally had one bite and wanted to get off his high chair. Peppa pig on the i-phone didn't do the trick either. He just wanted to walk around the restaurant, while we had to literally gobble our food down. My husband has now said he is happy not to go to a restaurant for the next 6 months. Help! We rushed home and while my daughter went to sleep (thank god one child ate properly) I gave my son some dinner, some yoghurt and straight to bed.
The evening left us drained and disappointed, especially since having children our restaurants have narrowed down solely to child friendly restaurants, and even then it's becoming difficult. And not just when we are out, at home its a struggle with an active child. So after browsing through various mommy-sites, one mom suggested placing books and toys at the dining table to hold their attention. At Sunday lunch time this is exactly what I did, and wow did it work! I found all of his favourite books, and while he turned the pages, I spooned his lunch into his mouth. I don't know if this will work when we are out, but since we have another 6 months before we ever go to a restaurant, I'll deal with that then!
No comments:
Post a Comment