Better Full Than Empty

A few months ago dh and I took the kids out to brunch after church. The big kids wanted to use their gift certificates earned from participating in a talent show weeks earlier. I didn’t want to cook. We decided to give it a try. Our toddler has a mild form of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (his birth mother was quite wild) so his behavior can be a bit unpredictable.

We unloaded the troops and headed in. Immediately, I notice that Mimi’s Café is much fancier then we had anticipated. The hostess gave me a fake smile and I think I heard a small sigh under her breath when I stated “We have a party of seven. Two adults, three children’s menus and two high chairs, please.” I know we aren't the ideal customer. Whatever. And against my better judgment we settled in for the 25 minute wait.

Dh suggest we linger on the patio. I could sense that he wasn’t sure how much longer the kids could hold it together. After thirty minutes of counting cars, singing songs and making friends with all the elderly customers (who I think would have rather sat in silence) our name was finally called. We were all starving.

Our table was set perfectly, almost. Placed in front of the high chairs were glass plates with glass bowls of cheerios and packages of crackers for the little ones. (I guess they don’t have any plastic containers.) The children’s menus had a Hidden Picture game with hundreds of things to find and puzzles.

There we sat. The children behaved. :) The babies were blissfully eating their snacks. We ordered promptly and waited, and waited and waited and waited. It seemed like forever. Dh and I exchanged worried glances across the table. The babies ran out of food and were getting restless. The big kids had long since finished their puzzles and menu games. The waitress seemed overwhelmed and frazzled so we didn’t complain. Finally the manager appeared apologizing for the delay and assured us that the food was on its way. We played I spy and drew funny pictures but I knew we couldn’t last much longer. By the time the food came the babies had had it. I ate as fast as possible and took the baby to the car to nurse. When I returned Dh was packing up the gang.

The waitress handed me the gift certificates. She said to save them for next time. I was so stressed I didn’t realize that they had comped our entire meal. She brought out a bag filled with giant muffins and brownies and a $30 gift certificate to use on our next visit. She even refused a tip. How cool was that?

But wait, it gets even better. As we were packing up a gentleman from the table across from us waved me over. He was with an older woman, his wife I presume, and another couple. They were probably in their 70s. They proceeded to tell me that I had a beautiful family. They complimented me on my children’s good behavior. . They asked for their ages and told me about their own children and grandchildren. Then they offered to pay for our meal. Lol Obviously, I graciously declined. We really should go out more often.

People often tell me that I have my hands full. My response is always “Better full than empty”.