New Traditions

One of my favorite memories of growing up was our Friday family nights. Every Friday we would go out to dinner as a family, and then go for ice cream or rent movies for the weekend. It was so fun deciding where we would go, discussing what movies were out, and planning our weekends. My mom, my dad, my sister and I did this as a family until I was probably 20 years old. Then I met James and my parents were busy with their shop. James and I still went out every weekend, but this time it was with friends and while fun, it was just different. Once we had Brady we stopped going out to restaurants altogether. It was fine when he was a baby, but once he got older he just wouldn't have it. We lived in VT and there were only a couple of people who were able to baby sit. We managed to get out once in a while, but I never completely enjoyed it because I always missed my son.

Thinking back through the past 3 years, I would say we have been to a restaurant maybe 7 or 8 times total. It's not just the kids- I have grown to love cooking. It is one of my favorite things to do and nothing makes me happier than pleasing my friends and family with their favorite dishes. Last weekend a male friend even told me that before he would ever get married, his fiancee would have to spend a week with me learning how to cook. That was one of the best compliments I have ever received, and he now has a permanent dinner invitation at my house!

James called me from work last Friday and said "Hey, do you want to go to Buffalo Wild Wings tonight?" I told him I would have to think about it. After all, I have grown skeptical of other people preparing my food. What if they are sick? What kind of ingredients do they use? How many calories are in their menu items? Then I began wondering how the kids would be. They can barely sit down for a quick dinner at home. I decided to ask Brady what he wanted to do. After all, our experience would probably depend mostly on him. We all rode to pick him up from school at about 5:00. This was late, but we only wanted to make one trip to town and if we were going out I wanted to go before the dinner crowd. When I asked him, he gave me an enthusiastic "yes!" (as long as they had chicken nuggets and fries, that is).

We arrived at the restaurant and didn't have to wait. The kids got hats and coloring pages with crayons. We placed our orders, the service was fast, and the kids loved their food. Cecilia ate a fruit cup and an entire bowl of mac and cheese. Brady ate chicken tenders and fries. Daddy got wings and I had a wrap (which I later made the mistake of looking up the nutrition facts of online. People, read the nutrition facts BEFORE ordering if you are watching your weight!)

The kids were having so much fun we took them across the street to Books-A-Million to pick out a new book. By the time we got home it was Cecilia's bedtime, and she went right to sleep. I felt full, happy and relaxed. No tantrums, crying, spills, refusing to eat, or unhappiness of any sort. They had a blast. And it made me realize: why can't we carry on my family tradition? The kids are old enough, James isn't home often and there is really no reason why we shouldn't get out more. I can look up restaurants online ahead of time to check out healthy options and view kids menus. After all, why not let someone else do the cooking and cleaning a couple of times a month? I could use the break :)