Eating Out

 

I'm sure many of you will be surprised to know this but we don't take the boys out to restaurants but on the rare occasion.  They both eat well at home where there are no distractions and I make them meals they like to eat.  But at a restaurant, the food is hit or miss and the surroundings are too tempting.  They end up with little in their bellies.  Because of this, it was only the rare occasion with friends or family that we would eat out.  For many of our outings, I pre-make lunch and pack it in thermal containers for the boys.

I recognize that part of this is due to my control issues but I do feel justified.  Up until last year, BB was never a good eater after being weaned, and with both of them allergic to dairy, I worry about nutrition.  At home, they eat three square meals a day with plenty of good snacks in between.

Recently, C and I decided that we needed to change this.  It's mostly about convenience so that I don't have to prepare foods in advance for our outings.  And it's also so that they grow accustomed to eating different foods for when we're traveling for long periods of time.  Part of the program is our Friday nights out that we started almost 2 months ago.  That's been going very well save for the weekend DD was sick and ate nothing.  On Saturdays after classes, we eat out for lunch and often eat out again Saturday night with friends or after birthday parties.  The boys eat at my parents' house on Sundays.  My pots and pans are untouched over the weekends. 

This is a big step for BB and DD, but as I'm finding with all parenting related issues, it's an even bigger step for me.