Fun Friday’s is a thing we have included into our family weekly routine. It’s the day of the week when there is no bedtime, fun is a must and we must do it as a family. The goal is to have & enjoy a time where we are purposely together sharing and growing. How do we pull this off you may be asking… let me share with you these : 5 awesome tips on how to enjoy eating out with your kids.

This Friday we went out to eat at Local Slice Pizza in South Congress, Austin Tx. We love that place…delicious pizza, friendly service and a cool atmosphere. I often get asked, if I actually have fun with my kids when we go out…and the answer is most of the time ( there are those occasions, no family is perfect). But for the most part we have a great time going out and hanging out with the kiddos. So, I wanted to share with you, 5 awesome tips on how to enjoy eating out with your kids.

PICK A FUN PLACE

If you want to have a great time eating out with the kids, remember that they are kids. Sitting still ( and quiet) for a long dinner, with food that requires them to remember the order of the fork they are to use, is probably not the place to do Fun Fridays. Pick a place that the entire family will enjoy, food that is good, easy to eat. We make sure to have a moment during the week, when we can indulge and let ourselves relax and simply let time run.

PICK A LOUD PLACE

Kids are loud. Or is it just mine??? Well, if your kids are loud like mine ( even after reminding them for the uhm- millionth time to lower their voice) then I suggest you pick a loud restaurant. One that will help drown out the noises that come out of your kiddos. My little guy loves to talk, a lot, and he is very loud, so picking a restaurant that will allow him to be himself, helps him not get in trouble and helps me keep my sanity! lol! Another option is to ask to sit outside. Outdoor areas tend to be louder in general, perfect for kids.

NO iPads or CELLPHONES ALLOWED

This has been a hard one for my family. It is so easy to let the kids be on their iPads and just leave us alone to have a nice tranquil meal, but the purpose of this time is to spend time having fun as a family. So we have adopted a no electronics policy ( with the exception of picture time…cause you know I am all about that perfect cellphone shot) lol! Even if its hard at first try it. We usually do a reward system. If they behave then they get electronics time on the ride back home. It also helps that they not use electronics before arriving to the restaurant, for my kids, electronics gets them all loopy.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER

I always wanted to have lots of kids. I wanted a huge family, but for health reasons I was unable to. But I am content with my two beautiful treasure that the Lord has given me. I value them and love them as my special blessings. I am also glad there is just two of them, because it makes it easier to divide and conquer. Clyde and I pick a child who we need to pay careful attention to. This helps me, in that I can focus on just helping one child at a time, with cutting up food, or making sure they don’t spill a drink, getting napkins…and all of the other wonderful messes that come with eating out with a child. This one has helped a lot, but both parents need to be hands on for it to work! What’s that saying; Team work mean’s dream work…so true, especially in parenthood.

THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

My final tp is this. Perfection is not needed. You need to learn to have fun and to go with the flow. The evening will not go as it was perfectly planned in your head. Your kids will not live up to the perfect expectations that you have for them, and that is okay. There is always room for improvement, and learning. Learn from every eating out experience and get to know your child’s limits. We learn a lot from watching them and giving them a little grace…and we improve for the next time. After all, childhood is a season of learning a lot of social cues. If we don’t take out our kids and teach them how to behave at certain places, how will they learn?