Celebrate the Small Wins

We ate at a vegan restaurant tonight; Owen was not thrilled about this. We heard it all, “their cheese tastes weird,” “there’s nothing for ME there,” “I don’t wanna go”… And, on top of that, it was late when we left for the restaurant. Like an hour before bedtime late, but Brian and I really had a taste for it. Selfishly, we piled the kids in the Suburban and left the ‘burbs for the Windy City, arriving AT bedtime to a place that Owen didn’t want to lay eyes on, let alone rely on for his long-awaited meal.

Tessa, Neve, Brian and I were able to decide on a meal quickly but not our finicky Owen. Right before the waitress came to take our order, we parents were hit with the crazy notion that perhaps this excursion wasn’t among our grandest of ideas. Neve was starting to complain of how tired she was, asking to please go home (did I mention it took all 4 of us and an open window more than several minutes to wake her from her accidental car-ride nap?). Owen was still ticked that we were there in the first place. He said he wanted waffle fries. Brian and I immediately agreed to that – for DINNER!  What. Were. We. Thinking??? We just wanted peace.

Now they are finally in their beds, after a rather dumb and unnecessary trip to the city, but I can reflect and see it wasn’t THAT bad that we allowed the waffle fries as a meal. I mean, they weren’t just waffle fries. These things were loaded up with good stuff – topped with gravy, cheeze & green onions. See, there were greens on his plate, right? Riiiiigggghhhhtt. No. Those don’t count. But, the side of steamed veggies he ordered DID count and he gobbled those up all the same. He even commented how he was “tied between his favorite food tonight” -the fries or the cauliflower (sorry to broccoli and carrot for not being contenders, although they were certainly consumed).

Was tonight our proudest moment? No. Especially when we consider that Brian had to take Neve out to the car before the check came due to her complete meltdown. She would have been in deep REM sleep by now had we opted to eat at a normal hour closer to home. But, I can’t beat myself up about Owen having a bowl of smothered fries for dinner. I can instead celebrate the win that he also ate every bit of a good-sized bowl of steamed veggies. We know, and more important Owen knows, that this is absolutely not the norm; a special treat for a special circumstance. Maybe next time we’ll do 2 orders of veggies for him and split the fries among everyone. Oh, but next time we’re heading there no later than 4pm!

If you have had a small win that seems like a big deal, share in our FORUMS!

Taken from Fun Grazing's Blog