Dear fellow diners at the Olive Garden by Woodfield Mall, around 1:30pm...
I sincerely apologize that my baby girl decided to have a meltdown immediately upon sitting down at our table. She was tired and hungry, but of course our waiter decided to disappear when we needed to ask for some warm water to get Jennie's bottle to the perfect temperature. And when after the first couple sips her bottle wasn't how she wanted it, she decided to lose it. Daddy walking around with her and me bouncing her on my knee usually works and neither didn't. Her crying only got worse the more we tried to calm her down. Her screams reached what I thought were near "someone is abusing me, please call Child Services" pitch when our food arrived. Thank you for your patience during the last 20 minutes...she calmed down just in time for dad to inhale his lunch and take Jennie from me while I ate a few bites of my dinner before boxing it up and heading home.
To one dad in particular- thank you for reminding me that this too shall pass. As I walked by your table where you sat with your wife and 3 kids old enough to tell you what their problems are, you smiled knowingly and said "I remember those days well". One day Jennie will be able to tell me how she is feeling...but until then, I'll just breathe and try every trick I have to make my baby girl happy. And one day I'll be able to tell a parent that same thing...I remember those days well.
It is a terrible feeling when you're going through it. We have a 3 year old, a 9 year old and a 10 year old. In Disney, our 3 y.o. had a total and complete FREAKING NIGHTMARE meltdown - one or two people were sympathetic when I wanted to throw in the towel but there were others that were rude. More rude than I expected from a grandfatherly type at WDW - I was ashamed of my daughter but hello - 3 year old not having a nap meltdown because she can't go on the ferris wheel? I was okay with it too. I am so glad you had gentle patrons surrounding you. I will definitely tell you too, this will pass. :-) Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because as mom's we always think we can handle whenever that happens, but when it does no matter how many children we have we aren't quite prepared. That's the case with me anyway and I have a four year old and ten month old. A few months back my youngest had a meltdown in our library while we were in line to checkout, and a woman sympathetically told me that although these particular moments seem like a nightmare now, later I will yearn for one of these moments if only my children were babies again. She said hers were all grown and moved away, and if she could go back in time and get one moment back with them as babies she would gladly take even one's such as these. haha.
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