Last night I got a bit spontaneous..... Pat is about to swing back out to sea next week and I realised that the 4 weeks he has been home we haven't been out to dinner or anything as a family so I thought screw it we're going. To most people this is somewhat of a normal adventure but for us it was a whole different ball game. We went out to a tavern that has a children's play area so we thought yep this place is the go. All in all we had a good night and I didn't feel the need to become intoxicated so that was a good sign lol.
I had to use my extreme negotiating skills when we first got there because Cal felt the need to take an Optimus Prime toy and his drink bottle into dinner with us. After 5 minutes of negotiating I managed to get him to put the drink bottle back in the car but he still took the toy. I told him I would buy him a drink so that made him happy. Just as we got inside Cal took the bolt into the gaming area. Pat explained to him that thats the adult playground and kids aren't allowed in there. When we got inside and were seated Cal didn't want to sit with us..... he's 6 years old and already we aren't cool enough lol. After a couple of minutes we convinced him to sit with us and he was all good. Then all 3 of them realised that there was a play area. We let them go off after we ordered (Patty supervised) and so far the night was doing alright.
All 3 kids wanted a cheeseburger and chips meal. The boys weren't too impressed when it came out and there was this stuff called salad on their burgers. All that Cal ended up eating was his chips and a few bites of the bun. Then the fun started. I was only a quarter of the way into my meal and Patty was about the same. Callum had finished what he wanted to eat then he wanted to bolt back into the play area. I couldn't see it from where we were sitting so it was out of the question........ right now all I wanted was to sit and finish my dinner and not have to deal with my 6 year old who was sitting on the floor trying to escape. Thank God for technology!!! I had to give him my iPhone. He was finished and determined that he was going and leaving us behind. Normally I would seriously frown at it but I just wanted to finish my dinner. At home when they finish they just put their plates in the sink then go and play. Can't do that at a pub. A week ago when my Mum and I were out at the shops we went to lunch and saw a family and all 3 boys were on an iPod Touch each. I was thinking OMG how sad. Mum and Dad were talking amongst themselves and these boys were just left there playing video games. I didn't want to give Callum my iPhone but I knew that it was going to be the only thing that stopped him attempting a runner. I decided that straight after dinner we would take them out for icecream. They didn't want to leave until I told them we were going to Maccas. I figured it was easier. I knew they weren't going to eat much of their dessert and just wanted to play. So after eating about 4 spoonfuls of their icecream each they were allowed to let loose in the playground at Maccas.
They were having a ball. There were other kids there they could play with and I was lucky enough to get talking to one of the parents there and she has a 13yo with Autism. She gave me some helpful hints of things I could do and it was fantastic talking to her. She knows exactly what I've been going through and let me in on the best bits with government departments that are yet to come with how helpful they are.
So a good night came to an end and I actually fell asleep by about 9.30pm because I was exhausted. Today we are doing some stuff around home but might go out a bit later. It is nice to actually be getting out as a family and doing things. As you can tell we don't get to do it very often.
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