Main Page Blog Getting Pregnant Articles Pregnancy Articles Parenting Articles TLOL Article Directory Chinese Gender Chart Pregnancy and Parenting Journals	The Real Reason We Don't Eat Out !!! by Dawn Llyod - http://www.babyuniversity.com Someone failed to tell me that my social life was over once I had children. I don't ask for much, just an occasional dinner out in which I don't leave the restaurant in tears - or a trip to the grocery store without me wishing I could hop a plane for a tropical island, alone, and never return. That's not much, is it? Apparently so! If you're expecting your first child, let me be the one to burst your bubble. If you're already a parent, I'm sure you can relate to my war stories! In all fairness, my daughter is the only one that leaves me wondering why I decided to have children. She is the most independent, stubborn, strong-willed three-year-old I have ever met (and I have NO clue where that came from - uh-hum). Yes, I know all of these adjectives mean virtually the same thing, but I feel compelled to reiterate how strong her personality is. My son, on the other hand, is the perfect little gentleman. I can take him to any store or restaurant with little worry of embarrassment. Of course, he's only seven weeks old, so I'm sure that will change! As a young adult, I always watched those children throwing temper tantrums or running around in public and swore my child would never be one of them. They wouldn't run around the restaurant, crawl under the tables, wipe their nose with their shirt, or open every package of junk food while riding around in the back of the shopping buggy. My children would sit politely in their high chairs and walk by my side through the store. Then I had those children, and quickly became humbled ... Our family has been banned from nearly ever restaurant in town that doesn't have a playground - and even a few of those. Don't these frowning, sneering adults know that food digests much better if you immediately run around the restaurant after eating? And why the dirty looks if my child is quietly playing underneath the table? Yes, I know she's eating food off the floor, but if you think that's the worst thing she's done today, think again. Besides, would you rather she join you at your table? It won't be the first, or last time. The intelligent entrepreneur would throw up one of those playgrounds at the western steak house. If we can throw peanuts on the floor, why can't our kids run around like wild steer? So we resort to eating at quickie restaurants with playgrounds and processed meat. All kids go wild at these places, so surely my daughter won't stand out, right? Wrong! Have you ever seen those sweet little children that stand in line, waiting their turn at the slide, while some bully knocks them out of the way and steals their place? My child is the bully. She has no patience - if you can't scramble up to the top in 10 seconds flat, you have no business being there. If she likes you, she'll drag you along for the ride, but you'd better catch on fast! And shall I mention what occurs when it's time to go home? There's probably no need to paint a picture - it's not pretty! We've lost more socks and shoes by yanking her up and running out of the restaurant before being spotted by anyone we know! My husband's the lucky one - he didn't grow up in this city, so there are very few people he actually does know here! And shopping? I gave that up a long time ago. I now resort to grocery shopping in the wee hours of the night - hopefully there won't be anyone in the store that remembers the times I was determined to be a modern-day parent and brought my daughter with me. The stockers despise her. She believes it is her job to rearrange each and every shelf to her satisfaction. No, popsicles do not belong in the frozen food aisle - they should be placed on the Kool-Aid aisle! Or at least my daughter thinks so! My husband is still aggravated with the fact that I let her open junk food and snack while I shop. He'd rather attract attention by arguing with "Miss I Can Scream Louder Than You" than just give in. Doesn't he know it's difficult to argue when your mouth is stuffed full of cheese doodles? So what if they leave greasy little orange finger prints on the back seat of our brand new minivan? Isn't it easier to clean the seat than try to salvage your pride? The moral of this story: Yes, your children will act like that. All children act like that at one time or another. If nothing else, your sweet little child will be influenced by my hellion and will begin to display symptoms of bratiness. We even acted like that. My parents display great joy when reminding me that I used to act just like that .... I guess it's true what they say: "What comes around, goes around". Just please don't tell my parents I said so! Dawn Lloyd is the editor/owner of BabyUniversity.com. As the mother to a very independent three-year-old and a two-month-old, she fully believes that humor is a necessity to surviving parenthood..