Saturday, October 06, 2007

note to self

When dividing cake batter between a single round layer and 9 cupcakes, pour the cupcakes first. 

Tomorrow is Havoc's 5th birthday.  He asked for a single layer cake for his little family party tomorrow and cupcakes for his classmates on Monday. He wanted a vanilla cake and vanilla icing. He doesn't like chocolate.  We colored the white icing orange at his suggestion, though it is really more of a peach color because he insisted on putting more red in.  Then he & Mayhem put colored sprinkles on the cake and cupcakes.  Half that cake is a solid mass of sprinkles due to Mayhem just upending his dish onto it.  I'll be sweeping sprinkles off the floors for days to come.

DH is camping tonight. He went with us to the zoo today and then he and a friend went north to camp & me and the friend's family went south home.  We stopped at a diner on the way.  I firmly believe that I should never take more small children into a restaurant than there are adults. Every child under 6 needs a watcher, an adult to sit next to to head off silverware sword fights, napkin shredding, salt spillage etc.  Havoc by himself can behave well. My friend's son, by himself can behave well. Together they are decently behaved as well.  Add Mayhem and my friend's daughter and all hell breaks loose.  My friend decided to read the paper rather than watch her kids so I end up spending the whole time saying "Stop it" "Put it down" "Don't do that" ad infinitum. I ignore my kids when they act up in stores. Some stores we just leave, but in grocery stores they get sat in the cart and I get on with my shopping. The grocery store is far enough away (and groceries enough of a necessity) that just leaving & coming back at some later date really is not an option. People can give me 'the look' & I am oblivious. It's just my turn to be That Mom, with That Kid in the grocery store. Another time it'll be someone else's turn. But I just can't look at restaurants that way. The tables are too close, you can't just avoid me & the little PITA I have with me. DH or I will remove the offender until he calms down if a tantrum is happening or issue a stream of 'orders' if the two of them are playing too loud & vigorously. But when I am by myself I can't just up stakes & leave when my child decides to freak out because the wait between the order and the arrival of food is longer than he wishes or perhaps 3 bites into the chicken fingers he is no longer hungry & wants to leave. I have to track down a waitress, arrange for the order to be canceled or packed up & paid for.  I suppose I could simply pick up the offender & drag the other one off out of the place and not pay.  Perhaps the people glaring from the table across us would be willing to pick up my tab?  How much is my kid's silence/absence worth to you?

Mayhem was tired and hungry. So he was restless and cranky while we waited for the food. Havoc & the girl kept shredding napkins & getting progressively louder & louder. The youngest boy spit water all over the place.  Why didn't we leave? I have no freaking idea.  It wasn't my car. I wasn't alone. Because alone, I'd've gone to the Taco Bell Pizza Hut drive through, got the kids a pizza to split and waited until we got home to find something for me to eat.  Taking Mayhem into a restaurant in that condition, without direct supervision & constant interaction available is never a good idea. 2 parents are required in that situation.  Going out to eat was originally my idea, but as we started looking around for a place & it became clear Mayhem was on the edge of a nap I started suggesting drive through. Then we found the diner.  We were practically the only people in there thank god, but I'm sure the other 6 people would have preferred we went elsewhere.  I agree with them.

The boys are going to bed early tonight.  They had a big active day and were not able to sleep in the car on the way home, so I am thinking about 7:30 I'm getting them in the bath & with luck they'll be in bed by 8 and I can get a glass of wine & a book and lay in my bed and read for a few hours.

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