Twin Tips- Eating Out With TRIPLETS in Tow (guest post)
This week in our twin series we are focusing on eating out with twins or multiples. Each day a different momma of multiples is going to share her secrets and tips on this particular topic.
Today, Angela, who is a mom to TRIPLETS who just turned two, gives us her advice. Check out her bio at the end so you can visit this momma’s precious blog, that is so appropriately titled!
We don’t go out to eat at restaurants with the kids very often. Hopefully, I simply have to mention that I have two-year-old triplets, and that will be enough of an explanation. Add to that, I have a six-year-old boy with celiac disease – meaning he can’t eat gluten – no wheat, barley, or rye – and you will see that our options concerning restaurants are pretty limited. Not only must it be two-year-old friendly, but it has to offer a gluten-free menu. Otherwise, I have to pack a separate meal for the older one.
And if that is not enough to convince you, let me describe our last venture out to a restaurant. We chose a local ice cream store. It seemed safe enough – big booths to sit in, lots of loud kids around, sticky fingers and ice cream spills expected. What I didn’t plan on were the fights over spoons, one triplet who continued to escape from the booth and run back behind the counter to the kitchen, while another triplet kept trying to drip ice cream from his spoon onto the head of the unsuspecting stranger sitting behind him. And, the very successful efforts of all three to use the ice cream as finger paint on the store windows. As we left, we paid the folks behind the counter extra for the mess they would have to clean up when we were gone.
With that said, however, I do have a few tips for those brave enough to venture out to a dining establishment with young triplets.
1) Choose a family-friendly place, where lots of mess and noise will not matter. My favorites are restaurants with outside dining next to a playground, where the kids can run crazy and not disturb any one.
2) If you are eating inside, send in a scout ahead of time to see if there are enough high chairs. It’s not always easy to find three. There is nothing worse than getting everything unloaded from the car and inside the restaurant, just to find there is nothing there to contain the little ones. Believe me, you want them contained!
3) If at all possible, take an extra adult. Triplets are much easier if you have a 1:1 ratio of adults to kids.
4) Bring distractions with you. My guys are really into books right now, and are easily appeased with a stack to sort through.
5) Be prepared to leave at any time! Two year old behavior is hard to predict – we don’t stick around when the tantrums start.
Angela is mom to 2 yr old triplets, Kate, Oliver & Willa, as well as to their six-year-old big brother, Evan. She and her family live in Austin, TX, and she has been blogging about life with triplets for the past two years. Make sure you check her out over at OMG You Poor Thing where she writes about her journey. (Shout out to Texas mom’s of multiples! )
Angela- awesome guest post! So smart to send someone in to ensure they have enough highchairs. Never would have thought of that… until you are in the situation and need three of them.