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Dining Double
Taking Twins out to Eat By Kelly Burgess
Jackie Regales of Baltimore, Md., doesn't want to hide in her house just because she has a pair of active 2 1/2-year-old twins. But she also knows she has to be practical about where they go to eat.
"I try to only take them to places I already know are very kid friendly," Regales says. "We have some good local restaurants that love kids, and Pizza Hut usually has tables full of blocks and other kids running around like crazy."
Taking young children out to eat can be an ordeal even with just one child. With twins, the challenges of staying at the table, keeping voices down and waiting patiently (or not) for food are doubled. Regales pretty much has it down to a science, but her big secret to success is letting her kids be kids.
Dr. Lisa Medhus, author of Raising Everyday Heroes: Parenting Children to Be Self-Reliant (Beyond Words Publishing, 2004), is also a physician and mother of five children. She has vast experience in dealing with children in public situations. She says realistic expectations regarding the child's ability to understand what is expected of him are crucial when the child is very young.
"In the case of toddlers, manners should amount to matters of disruption and safety," Dr. Medhus says. "In other words, you can't let a toddler run off in the mall; it's not safe. You can't let a toddler have a temper tantrum registering 350 decibels in a movie because it will disturb the other customers. You can't let a toddler grab a Ming vase from its museum display and hurl it across the room ... But if your child is dancing in the lobby of a baseball stadium close to you, big deal. Let children behave like children. You can't expect them to act like miniature adults. Let them express that effusive spirit as long as it's safe and non-disruptive."