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Main Page Site Index Getting Pregnant Pregnancy Parenting Pregnancy and Parenting Journals Fertility Nutrition Pregnant Moms Morning Sickness Women's Health Child Health	Ketchup and Alfredo Sauce -Adventures in Dining by Ashley Ocampo Most families love to eat out, mom gets a night off from cooking, no kitchen to clean up, heaven right? Not in my house, Now, don't get me wrong, I love to hear the words "Let's eat out" unless they are accompanied by the words "with the kids" Why do those 3 little words drive fear into my heart? Let me share my last dining adventure. Nels and I were out shopping, and our oldest, Courtney, was babysitting 2 of her 3 siblings. We only had one child, Cameron, with us. So, we decided to be brave and head to Olive Garden. We ordered, pizza for Nels, fettucine alfredo for me, chicken fingers for Cameron. Cam's food came delivered with a cup full of ketchup. We haven't introduced the novelty of ketchup to the boys yet, as I am not fond of having it smeared all over during meal time. So now, here I am faced with a 2 year old, with a pudding size cup full of ketchup. I tried to casually remove it, but no, Cameron wanted it back. Not wanting to have WWIII over it, I relented. BIG mistake. Cameron couldn't figure out the concept of red pudding, he tasted it, spilling it onto his plate, and getting it on his chicken. Then instantly wailed, so what's a mom to do? Why clean the chicken off with a napkin, of course. There I sat, in the middle of the restaurant, wiping off individual pieces of chicken, not to mention his plate. Then, while I am doing that, he drops the ketchup covered fork right into my alfredo sauce, and cries some more because now the offending ketchup is on his thumb, the very one he still sucks. Being the wonderful mom that I am, :-) I quickly wipe off the thumb and point out how mommy has carefully wiped off all traces of ketchup for him. Does he calm down and eat? NO!! He cries for daddy's pizza. So, I get him a slice, and finally get to eat my lunch. It's then I remember, there is ketchup in my alfredo sauce. I am ready to cry at this point. Lunch has been a total disaster, everyone is giving us that look...(you know the one, "why can't you control your child") when Cameron reaches over, and takes a napkin to my alfredo sauce. He is dabbing up the ketchup and smiling that cute grin of his at me. Hmmm...now that I think about it...and retell it for you, I've decided I was wrong. Eating out with children CAN be heaven, you just need to define what that is to you. For me, it's ketchup in my alfredo sauce, and a 2 year old, cloth napkin in hand, making it all better. Just when you are ready to throw in the towel, they do something so cute, so sweet, that you forget what you were so upset over. These are the moments I want to remember. Snippets in time that serve to remind me what it's all about. Until the next time, I remain, buried beneath the dirt and chaos that parenting brings, but loving every minute of it. Ashe Ashley is a WAHM to 4 wonderful, wacky, and exhausting children. They are Courtney, 14, a teen girl in EVERY sense of the word..(moms of teens, you KNOW what I mean...LOL); Lanie, the budding gymnast and Brownie Scout, 7; Cameron, aka, "Messy Boy" ,who has language delays and sensory integration dysfunction, 2 1/2; and Nicholas, 15 months, he's the quiet one, probably because he spends alot of time wondering just what kind of a crazy family he was born into. Ashley 's biggest accomplishement to date is her proud mastery of being able to clean a major poopy with the single remaining wipe! She is also known for her superior negotiation abilities, and contributes to world peace daily by helping to avert bloodbaths between fighting siblings. Ashley, her DH, Nels, their kids, the cat and the dog, all live in the Panhandle of FL. Ashley is a Site Administrator at http://www.thelaboroflove.com .