Impossible

We have tried to have a good time together for several months eating out, but it really never seems to happen. Our schedules are so crazy that we eat out often, with neither Bart nor I having time to cook at all.

Everyone hates going out with Tony and Dominyk because they are so obnoxious. They really are. Since I’m their mother and I love them, I can overlook their faults, but their siblings can’t. So often the easier kids would rather stay home and make a frozen pizza than subject themselves to an embarrassing meal out with the little boys.

So, tonight I thought we had a prime opportunity to enjoy a dinner together. These are the “good and easy” kids that stayed home with me. They hardly ever act out. But, since the kids who normally do act out were gone, they HAD to. First, Sadie had a total meltdown over nothing (it started with an argument about math facts where she was INSISTING that 7 x 7 was not 49). It resulted in her choosing not to go out with us.

When we got there, Salinda complained about the menu. Mind you, it was the Green Mill, where there are about 120 choices. She said there was NOTHING she liked. Then she wanted to discuss, at that moment, why, exactly, she couldn’t start dating at 13. Ricardo was kicking her under the table.

I was the queen of self-differentiation tonight, so I was able to ignore most of it, but I concluded that no matter how many children are gone, it appears that it is impossible for us to have a nice meal out.