THAT Family

The other night while out to dinner, we found ourselves in a new position that we'd never been in before. We were THAT family.

You know, the one that lets their wild child run amok and stays well past the desert course, torturing all the other diners. Yep, that was us. It wasn't supposed to turn out that way, of course, but sometimes circumstances just get out of hand, and before you know it, everyone's glaring in your direction. And since you've already pissed everyone off, you might as well stay a bit longer and enjoy the ice cream.

We took some friends out to dinner as the husband is deploying to Iraq soon. Their daughter is just a few months younger than Gabi, but, oh my, she is MUCH more active. A total sweetheart, but she'd give the Tasmanian Devil a run for his dinner. And her and Gabi combined? Not exactly the ideal dinner playdate.

I think it all started to go bad when we gave up on real food and started feeding the kids one desert after another. We thought if they had enough chocolate in front of them it'd keep them entertained and seat bound. So what was previously just squirming quickly turned into a sugar induced freak out that involved lots of running in circles around the table while singing Old McDonald in funny accents.

There are just times as a parent when you give up and let things happen as they may. There was no physical danger, and no one was verbally complaining. And did I mention that this was a buffet? Really, if you spend $7.49 for a buffet, do you really expect to have the romantic, quiet dinner you'd get at a top notch restaurant? Although it was Italian, and the seats were leather. But still.

We let the kids run around and sing, and just be happy. THEY had a good time. And the adults were able to have a conversation, so we had a good time, too.

And you know what? Being THAT family? It wasn't nearly as embarrassing as I thought it would be!

Not that we plan to be THAT family ever again. And, yes, we left a big tip.