You'd think I'd know by now...

Last night Brian had a dinner for work, so I decided that I'd rather not cook for Hannah and I and we'd just go out and grab a quick dinner ourselves. I didn't want to do fast food and there's a local restaurant only 5 minutes from our house that I thought I'd try. I knew that if Ellie fell asleep on the way there, she would sleep through our "quick" dinner. Right? Wrong! She did fall asleep, but woke up after we ordered and before our food came. Well, this tends to be the start of her "fussy time," so I knew I was in trouble. Naturally, every eye in the place was on us as Ellie's cries got louder and louder. I started to sweat a little and knew I had to get out of there. So, when our food came I quickly asked for two boxes to take it home with us. I was trying to make light of the situation and did a pretty good job of it. Hannah did even better when, on the way home she said, "That was so much fun at the restaurant!" I'm not sure what the "fun" was that she was referring to...maybe the coloring? maybe the fact that she got to order pancakes for dinner? Who knows...all I know is that you'd think I'd know by now, not to take a 6 week old out right at her "fussy time" no matter if she falls asleep or not. What was I thinking?! Clearly, I wasn't. I mean, it's not like this is my first time at being a mother! Yikes! :o)

I must add a note here about how the actions of one person can change a bad situation into something good (or at least OK). There was a couple sitting next to us who, of course, glanced over several times during the craziness. I finally turned to them and apologized because I felt badly about interrupting their dinner. They were very kind and said not to worry. Well, as I was walking w/ Hannah carrying her coat and her pancakes in a box, the woman followed us up to the front counter where I had to pay. She offered to help Hannah get her coat on and even offered, almost insisting, to help me out to the car. She was so kind and her actions really meant a lot to me. I was still a little embarrassed about the whole thing, so I told her I could make it to the car ok, but thanked her for her help. Just goes to show how helping someone in need, whether it's a mom w/ crying kids, an elderly person who needs help with something, or anyone else in need, brings joy to the person receiving the kindness. It's a call we've been told about before as Christians...be kind to others and help those in need.