"Of Magic & Mistletoe", by Gratiana Lovelace (2020); (Completed)

Ch. 04: Lunch & family

Diana: "Not long." She hopes. And Diana also hopes that Benjy doesn't have an accident. She's running low on pullups pants for him. And Benjy is so good during the day, about him getting to the bathroom in time—and he only has a night time accident once in a while now that he is older, when he is so tired that he doesn't wake up in the night.

Happily, since Heidi only had to wee wee, she doesn't take long in the bathroom. And she and her Daddy Luke leave the bathroom. So Benjy rushes in there—still without his boots on—and pees, with his Mommy giving him a gentle reminder through the bathroom door to ... uh...well, to aim.

Then the adults go potty, separately. Finally, they all drive over in Luke's sedan truck—with the kids in the back seat and Diana now sitting up front with Luke--to the Bob Evans Restaurant for lunch.

***

Ordering food for and with kids at a sit down restaurant is always interesting—even the family friendly places like their local Bob Evans restaurant. With Benjy and Heidi each being only 4 years old, they can't read the menu choices. So the pictures are helpful in that regard.

But the pictures also make the food look so yummy that the kids want to try everything on the menu. They are sitting parent, kid, parent, kid—the better to corral their behavior—the kids, that is. So Diana brokers the peace—before world war 4 year olds breaks out.

Diana: "Kids, How about we each choose a different meal, then set a portion of it onto a plate in the center of the table for each other to try. Will that be agreeable to you?" She cajoles sweetly.

Luke: "That's a brilliant solution, Diana! I usually just say no to Heidi."

Heidi: "Yes." She sighs. "Daddy says that I have to be good when Gwanny/Granny eats out with us."

Benjy: "Why is that?"

Heidi: "Gwanny/Granny only likes eating at home."

Luke: "Ha ha ha!" He chuckles at his daughter Heidi's astute observation. "You see, my Mother prefers her own cooking, and the economy of eating at home." Luke explains.

Heidi: "But Daddy and I like it hewa/here." Heidi smiles and looks around the busy restaurant filled with families and other people's grannies. And the hostess lady who lead them to their table, gave Heidi and Benjy crayons and coloring mats to play with while they wait for their food.

Diana thinks that so far, this lunch date between her and Luke is as far from being a date date as they come.  Ah, kids. Don't you just love them, Diana feels slightly chagrined. But their date having less of a date date designation also lessens her nervousness.

After everyone enjoys their meals, including tasting each others' meals from the samples on the plate in the middle of the table—happily, their server gave them an extra plate for that—the kids fall asleep in the back of Luke's sedan truck as he drives Diana and Benjy home. So their conversation is somewhat private.

Diana: "Thank you for lunch, Luke. It was yummy and fun."

Luke: "Yes. Thank you for joining us. I enjoyed our outing, too. And you are a treasure trove of parenting ideas. I had never thought of making a sampler food plate to placate Heidi's food tasting curiosity. How did you come up with that one?"

Diana: "Oh, it's just trial and error with Benjy. He's at that age where he tries to test his boundaries. And some of that is okay, but kids need structure and guidance. So he gets to choose new things some of the time, within reason."

Unbeknownst to Diana and Luke, their children were not quite asleep and then woke up when they heard their names. So Benjy leans toward the front seats, while still strapped into his seat belt.