hollyplace
Our child is still only 2 so following rules of staying at the table quietly for the duration of a dinner out doens’t really work too well. I always come prepared with some quiet toys and coloring materials but that only buys about 15 minutes of peace. What we do to make dining out enjoyable is we bring a portable DVD player with headphones and try not to worry if she eats dinner at the restaurant. We are going out for ourselves and I can always feed her something when we get back home if she hasn’t eaten at the restaurant. This allows us to enjoy our dinner and a bottle of wine without feeling totally rushed or worrying about her wanting to get down and run around or bothering the people that are trying to have a nice night out. Lots of people are anti TV with kids, but if there is ever a time to allow them to watch it is at a restaurant, on a plane, or a long car ride. When she is older and can be expected to sit at a table with adults for a longer period of time I will consider doing away with it. But for now it is really nice to be able to enjoy a dinner out and some adult conversation without having to find a babysitter or without driving the other people around us crazy.