going out to eat, before & after kids

I've written about eating in a restaurant with kids. But this is different. This is about when it is just us two. 

This is what going out to eat was like, before kids:

We didn't do this very often, but every once in a while we'd go crazy and splurge. 

And this is what going out to eat is like now, after having kids:

If the kids fall asleep in the car, we'll buy fast food, eat it and dispose of the evidence before they wake up.

We don't do this very often, but sometimes we go crazy and splurge.

 

 

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Anyone else never eat fast food before they had kids but now find themselves doing it because of sleeping kids in the car?

Still waiting for an organic, healthy drive-thru place to open near me. Organic salads and smoothies with a drive-thru window? How hard can this be? I know these exist in exotic far away lands, like Florida and Oregon. But it would take me a few days to drive there and I'm pretty sure the kids would be awake by the time we arrived.

So I'll wait. And keep eating fries without guilt. 

Comments

[Brittney]

I too am waiting for an organic healthy drive through. What is taking everyone so long? ITS NOT THAT HARD! :)

[sarah]

I eat tv dinners a lot now and didn't before I had my baby. I actually ate very healthy before I got pregnant, now I'm a mess. And tv dinners are quick.

[Rebecca]

I find that eating out now consists of stuffing my meal down my throat as quickly as possibly whilst bribing my nine month old to keep the noise down with various foods which are bad for him. Usually chips (which you American folk call 'fries' I believe). All this whilst my husband sits next to me enjoying his meal at a leisurely pace and sipping a cold beer.

[Marissa]

In-n-out is a less guilty pleasure, as far as fast-food places go. It's a good company and they use better ingredients than the other ones. :)

[Farrah]

Sadly I will hit a drive thru because it's the only time I can eat sitting down. My new mantra is 'my minivan is my sanctuary'. Also they're still young enough that they don't realize kid food exists in drive thrus as well.

[Lizzie]

It's true, do eat fast food now (and A LOT when I was pregnant....) also I dont have any excuses because my son is 6 month old and doesnt know what he is "missing" yet ;) ;) ;) Organic and healthy fast food in Florida ? long drive from Scotland but I'm game !!!!!! :)

[Rae]

I've asked the same question myself--not just for ME, but for the kids. It'd be so cool to do a drive through and get something kid friendly and yummy and healthy and something mama-ish and yummy and healthy. There clearly is a huge demand!

[Sarah]

Here is the thing...before kids, we ate at nice places, took our time and enjoyed ourselves.

Now- if we are ever lucky enough to have a sitter (rare) and we go to a nice restaurant, we scarf down our food (due to the habit of eating quickly to avoid kid meltdowns) and we have nothing interesting to talk about. We are also so tired that we yawn through the entire meal. VERY romantic...ha!

And yes, we eat fast food once the kids are sleeping, but it is a treat because we never let the kids eat junk, so we love it once in awhile!

[Peta]

Ah, yes, in a way I'm glad because my husband would previously never have gone for fast food and I always have a secret hankering!

[Peta]

Amazingly I have wangled it so Dad is in charge of feeding dinner, since I have day time meals. Every day I get a little bit of 'payback' :)

[Heather]

You know the new McDonald salads are pretty tasty and now they have lattes!!

[jennywhite686@hotmail.com]

I also am guilty of this because it is the only time I get to eat food sitting down, whilst not trying to do 12 things at once, and even maybe still delightfully HOT. Miracle!!

[L.R.Knost]

I live in "exotic and far away Florida" so what's my excuse? And now the baby's eating chalk. Gotta go!

[Deborah]

When both of my babes would nap (usually around 1pm) and we were in the car coming back from some outing, if I was hungry I would most definitely go to Rudy's, a local drive-in, where they attend you on roller skates as they serve up local buffalo burgers and free-range chicken fingers. Most definitely a treat for under $5--and even more so as it would be enjoyed in the quiet of the car w/two sleeping babes!

[Stacy]

I feel like I haven't had a warm meal since my son was born 2 1/2 years ago. He can get the exact same food, but he still wants what's on my plate. I eat while he's down for his afternoon nap, but since that's also when I clean... it's a sandwich over the sink most days.

[Thea]

Worse than yawning through our "date night" dinner is we spend half the time talking about the kids!

[Georgianna]

I love the comment about Dad leisurely eating and drinking a beer. So true. When my second was young and needed to eat on the run, we found for like $5 at Starbucks they had what they called a protein plate. A wheat mini bagel, a couple of pieces of cheese, a little ketchup packet thingy with peanut butter, grapes, and a hard boiled egg with a packet of salt and pepper. It was perfect kid friendly finger food and Starbucks has drive thru's in many places now. I wish I had the energy to pack something so perfect and carry it around in a lunch bag for those times...but she more worldly now, and these simple foods don't hold the same draw they did in her youth.

[DawnMichele]

More places should have drive thru windows! I have twins right now and I'm pregnant, again, so it's a HUGE convenience, especially when I don't want to cook or need to eat, ASAP.

[mom123@gmail.com]

it is so much easier to run through a drive thru than take the kiddos out of the car and lug them in, waking them up, etc. We are busy moms, we don't have time to do much else!

[Rowan]

We get cappuccinos and muffins and open the noisy paper back like we're handling an unexplored mine...

[Nicole]

I live in Oregon . . . I'm still waiting for the organic healthy food drive-up, though.

My kiddo won't sleep if the car is stopped. He falls asleep when the car is moving, but immediately wakes up if it has been stopped for more than 30 seconds (like at any stop light! grrrr) . . . so I don't do this due to sleeping baby. I do drive through when I'm too tired to make anything at home and I don't want to have to get the munchkin out of his carseat to walk IN for restaurant take-out.

[Rowan]

Paper BAG. Not paper back. Although often that too if I'm alone in the car with sleeping kids!

[Rowan]

Oh my GOD my predictive text is annoying. Let me try that again:

We get cappuccinos and muffins and open the paper bags like we're handling unexploded mines.

There. I'm tired. I have two boys. I apologise. My comment isn't even amusing or interesting after all that. Dear me.

[Sarah]

I could go for drive through pasties...Westcountry forever <3

[Jenny]

I live in Florida.. Where are these healthy drive thru places you speak of???

[t h]

its not cost effective...and it must be harder than you think, otherwise someone would be making money off of that idea...

[Tragic Sandwich]

Fast food is pretty much the only way I was guaranteed a meal during the day when I was breastfeeding, and it's pretty much the only way I'm guaranteed lunch on the weekend now, thanks to the . . . er . . . delicacy of Baguette's naps.

[Angela Maria]

I literally NEVER ate fast food before kids. But when you have a tiny baby who just got his shots, and he also has a cough, and swine flu is going around (my son was born in 2008), and you are hungry...well you do what you have to do.

And I wish with every bone in my body Jamba Juice had a drive through but I get why they don't.

And I never understood why Starbucks had a drive through, and NOW I get why they do.

I once saw a Panera with a drive through and wanted to cry from pure joy lol.

[Wendy]

Where are these organic drive through restaurants? I've lived on both coasts and have never seen one.

But damn it'd be a cash cow

[Veronica]

Wish this would work for us but my daughter will wake up from a dead sleep once we drive up to the menue bored!

[Stephanie]

Seriously how hard would it be to make a banging hummus sandwich on whole grain bread with avocado, some spinach, and bean sprouts! just sayin..

[kim]

We just had an organic healthy drive thru open by us!! Haven't tried it yet, but I've heard it's pretty good. It even has a walk-up window & a playground! Too bad my kid is a teen now. We may still have to try it out.

[Rebekah]

We still go to restaurants but I pack with me a veritable duffel bag of tricks. I have coloring books, crayons, markers, a stamp pads, toy trains and toy cars, baby dolls, board books, and a supermarket isle of snacks and juice boxes. I have sippy cups, and plastic spoons and straws that bend, and stickers a change of clothes, and we always end up tipping 20%, all that and we still only ever get to have two courses and one refill of drinks. Between the age of two and five it's hardly even worth it.

[Kelly]

I am waiting for a sit down restaurant that has a playland like the mall play area or McDonalds. I would love a restaurant to meet up with friends or go to eat with my husband that has a place for the kids to play, where we can see them, while we wait for our food to come.

[Natalie]

We are temporarily located in Mexico for my husband's work, and I have to hand it to the Mexicans as they know how to cater to families in restaurants. They either have a playground area so our 1.5 yr old daughter can play while mum and dad can leisurely enjoy an early dinner, or they have a nursery/daycare where there are ladies who play with the children while mum and dad eat. Its absolutely brilliant and our daughter loves going. Now why doesn't this exist in Canada!!!!

[Alex]

Your comment is funny (unexploded mines is a nice image) and it's the first thing I thought about when I read the post: how do you open the paper bag they put the food in without waking up the kids. I couldn't go to the drive-through in secret because DS (age 4) would definitely wake up when I opened the window to talk to the attendant or opened the bag to get to the food. :(

[Megan Coates]

Hahahahaha! Usually this occurs when we haven't been to the grocery store and there's next to nothing to eat in the house. We can scrape together something for the kids to eat around the house and then, once they're in bed, one of us sneaks off to a fast food joint. If my 18-month-old's bedtime wasn't 7:30 and we didn't have to extract her contact lenses at bedtime, then we might be able to attempt the "drive-thru while kids sleep" maneuver. But alas!

[jamie]

Drive-throughs are actually ILLEGAL in my town. So I'll drive to the NEXT town in order to get something to eat. And do banking. Sigh. Who voted for that stupid law?

[Larissa]

There was the most wonderful healthful drive-through in Salt Lake. They'd combined their business with a catering business and I thought they'd do well, but even though they'd won awards, they closed down after about two years. I was SO disappointed, because their sweet potato fries were GOOD!

[Tasha]

Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Back it up! You're wearing a RED dress in the BC (before children) picture!

[Alex]

I got tired of restaurant dates for the same reasons: nothing to talk about (except the kid), eating too fast, too tired. Now we go on dates to the appliance store. We will most likely have to replace all of our appliances in the next 5 years because they are all so old and decrepit. So we go together and so some pre-shopping, talk about our home decorating dreams, our goals for our family, etc. I know most men don't like window shopping. This is different because it's "research" for a future purchase.

Amber, maybe you should have a shopping for big purchases before and after kids post. I can't imagine trying to make an important purchase decision with kids present.

[Alex]

and make-up! did you notice the mascara?

[leila]

haha there was one of those a few blocks from me in FL! now in VA, it's chick fil a all the way, baby!!

[Jessica]

I can see it in my mind... Like Applebee's, with the tables in a square around the edge, but take out the bar area in the middle and add a Gymboree style playground. With a glass wall around it. That way you could still keep an eye on your kiddos but they wouldn't be running wild annoying the other diners. And when you come in, they give you & the kid matching coded armbands so there's no shenanigans of someone taking home someone else's kid. Oh it would be so wonderful...

[Amber Dusick]

Animal style. :)

[Amber Dusick]

No idea, someone told me once. Maybe it is a myth.

[Wendy]

Do you live in Mill Valley CA?

[Amber Dusick]

Yeah, I'd happily spend ten times as much money for it. Kinda like shopping at Whole Foods.

[Erica]

Ha, I admired that too. And the shoes!

[Amber Dusick]

Please go there. Make it a smashing success so other follow suit!

[Amber Dusick]

I think you should open this place. In all your free time.

[Amber Dusick]

Plus you get to eat Mexican food. Jealous.

[Amber Dusick]

Illegal? Why? Because they are unhealthy or was there some other reason? Interesting!

[JR]

It's a pollution thing from idling cars. San Luis Obispo,CA also has the law that makes drive thrus illegal. Damn hippies.

[Andrea]

The funny thing is looks like the husband is in the same clothes- of course no changes to the guys! ;)

[Jenny]

and now in the phase of kid sports every single evening of the week, dinner on the go seems to be the only possibility a few times/week. Sigh. If only I were more organized and could throw stuff in the crock pot for our 4:30 pm dinner before the chaos begins....

[jorie]

Never done it...because my kids don't sleep well in the car. The second they heard "welcome to mcdonalds..." the verbal one would be screaming MILKSHAKE and the other would just scream. That is if I ever had them both asleep in the car at the same time, which I don't think has ever happened. Long car rides are a special circle of hell for our family...

[Izzy]

This happened just last week - No way am I going to wake my 15 mo. old once he's asleep. It makes me almost nostalgic for the time when I could just take him out in his infant bucket seat and haul him around sleeping and all...
And then I remember the bruises on my forearms from lugging around a 20lb baby plus car seat and think to myself that maybe going through the drive-thru isn't all that bad after all.

[Stein]

I live in an area without a lot of drive throughs, but many offer curbside delivery (even my pharmacy - which is a sigh of relief after dragging three kids to the doctor's). It might be worth it to call your favorite places and request curbside.

[Marnie]

Guilty.

Dinosaur shaped nuggets and sweet potato fries are a big staple here, also. :)

[Rebecca]

Hey there, I live in Florida and we don't have any cool organic drive thrus in Sarasota! They must be in Orlando and Miami....

[Amanda]

That is amazing, my husband feels that since I'm home all day I should cook dinner. However he always feeds the baby so I can eat in peace, since I feed the kids breakfast and lunch.

[rachel]

are you kidding??? organic salads? i'm still waiting for the drive thru POST OFFICE to open! and i hope mine comes first. i can make a salad at home. ;)

[MaryO]

I find myself unreasonably angry when I see people in the drive thru line (mostly at Starbucks) with no carseats in view. Get out of the car, people! It's SO EASY FOR YOU to go in. Us, not so much!

[Gay Lynn]

I constantly think to myself that it would be nice if Chevy's had a drive thru......

[Dana Lee]

The organic drive through in Florida is located right next door to you're fountain of youth that Ponce De Leon (sp?) was looking for. ;)
We totally sneak foods we don't want our kids to have. Especially chocolate!

[A Facebook User]

Hell Yes, Animal Style! Then you wolf it down like an animal! I wish we had In-n-Out in Michigan. I'd eat it every day. Haha. :)

[Dana Lee]

Stupid swype user (me). That was supposed to be "the f.o.y." not "you're"...

[Kara]

Don't McDonald's do healthy meals in the states? In Australia they have a healthy choice menu even for the kids. :0) Hungry Jacks (Burger King equivalent) has finally joined the game too. :0) that said, I love chips!

[Annie]

I've always thought there should be natural food Truck Stops, as a one time driver before kids. Imagine, alert healthy people behind the wheel of a 80,000# moving object!

[Jen Procter]

Someone take the lead and open one up!
Burgerville (and others) make a killing here in Portland! Real RBST free milk shakes made with local hazelnuts...yum! Organic salads, local organic beef, Tillamook cheese...

[teagansmomma]

same here. it irritates me. i've fixed EVERY single dinner we've had at home since we brought DD home...she's almost 11 months...him feeding the baby during dinner so I can get some peace? Yeah, right. I'm lucky if I get to my dinner before it's cold, or have to share with DD...

[Zoek]

Animal style protein style (grilled onions, pickles, wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun). And a light lemonade :)

[Lou Evans]

There is a pub here in Brisbane, Australia with a rad kids playground. Moving rides too! It's a beloved haven by us brissy mums and dads!!! Drinks and a feed at a reasonable price whilst the kiddies are kept amused for hours :-)

[Elisabeth]

Not to brag, but Ann Arbor, Michigan has an awesome drive-thru with organic offerings, many locally grown. Even though we moved across town I will always drive the extra 20 minutes...oh, and they do coffee too! There has to be some reward for never getting to see the sun!

[kristine]

LOL! Unfortunately I'm the annoying parent that inappropriately brings my child to fancy restaurants filled with adults-only. Well I did, when she was a sweet little baby. I did give up going to Sushi with her when I realised I was paying just too much for a stressful meal, and then cleaning a 20-foot radius of the place thanks to M tossing rice around like it's confetti at a wedding.

[Mellie]

Yeah, those salads are great, but it's awfully hard to eat them in a car. :-) At least that's my excuse.

[Dana Lee]

We are always ourselves why THAT doesn't exist where we live! A playground in the center of an actual restuarant= genius.

[Nikki]

LOL... ours wake up the minute they smell fries.....jerks... lol.

[Lemmingprincess]

Ha, whenever we tried this, if the kid was asleep, he would wake up as soon as we pulled up to the drive through. Now...we just don't eat out just the 2 of us.

[jade]

I'm Australian an we have many restaurants like this. Big jungle gyms hidden behind thick glass- you know so you can still see your kids, but you don't have to HEAR them! Some mums abuse this privilege (their kids enter the play area and cease to exist or need parental supervision), but I enjoyed catching up with a girlfriend and eating a steak while her kids played. Mine is still only 10 months so I see the magic that is the jungle gym behind thick glass, bit am denied access :( we don't colour code the families though... We mostly just assume if your coming there withhold kids you probably don't want to take home any extras....

[Heather]

Oh wow, this is my life

[Heather]

Kids sleeping in the car?? This happens? I think my daughter missed the memo. Its usually fast food when I just don't feel like preparing another meal and trying to get her to eat. Probably once a month or so. Then its nothing remotely healthy-Sonic or Chick-fil-A

[Wendy]

I'm in Florida, and I'm still waiting on the organic, healthy, drive-thru too...maybe in exotic, far away places like Miami.........

[Alaina Mabaso]

I don't have any kids of my own, but when we visit my in-laws, we're inundated...we go to a local restaurant with all the kids. This is not an experience for the faint-of-heart, I find. Here's my blog post about it, also illustrated. Maybe you'll enjoy.
http://alainamabaso.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/the-pear-brigade-meets-the-steakhouse/

[kimmie]

Haha, same here! Except we bring out the cell phones and look at all the cute pictures we have of our kid.

[Janette]

Before kids I didn't need 'drugs', like caffeine or chocolate. McD's is my dealer, providing me with a variety of drugs like Dr. Pepper, or flavored coffee, or if that 'special' time of the month, a milkshake. Sure I eat the food too. But I HAVE to take something with my drugs. ;-D But I do feel appropriately guilty when I feed my son 'chicken' nuggets just so he can play in the playarea while I talk to another mom.

I too vote for a drivethru with GOOD food. Come on, there must be enough people to warrant it?!

[Jen]

It's really expensive to set up one of those healthy fast food businesses, and as a result, the prices are high. Now, would I pay for it? Abso-freaking-lutely. But I think the market share isn't high enough in most places for it to work.

I did see one in a mall in Tampa, Florida. I think it was about $4 for a basic meal with no sides or drink or anything. I think that's great - I'd pay. But it's hard to beat the 99 cent burger for the majority of fast food goers.

And yes, count me in as a new fast food eater. I have a 9 month old and am pregnant, and if I'm driving home from something and she happens to be asleep, it's Wendy's or McDonald's for me. DH didn't know until recently, and he was SHOCKED given the fact I hate fast food (not a hippie/normative statement - I just don't like the taste of greasy burgers, and would absolutely prefer humus on whole grain pita bread!) But I don't think he understands how hard it is to get a meal in between errands, doctor's appointments, etc. And I just have one kid so far, and a baby at that! (A baby that FREAKS OUT if I try to eat in front of her, and like a previous poster said, has to eat from MY plate, even if I give her a version of my food on the high chair. Nope, it's not EXACTLY the same therefore it's not what mommy is eating).

[allison]

Now I'm imagining a grassy plain with happy-looking chicken fingers running around. :)

[Alicia]

Yes, and I have also found myself pulling off the interstate to pee in the bushes because there was NO WAY I was going to wake a sleeping one and three year old to trek into a gas station at midnight. I'm sorry, but it just wasn't worth it.

[deneen]

darlin', my youngest is 9 and i still havent have a hot meal (or one at a table for that matter...sigh...) ...things don't ever really go back to normal they just keep changing ... (sorry was that your bubble i just burst? i KNOW! i am sorry! xoxod)

[Dee]

If my little one can see food, he must have it. Using our spoon, not his of course. and drink from our cups. In fact food hardly makes it to me. Fast food would only work if we were out of the car and he were in it.

By the way the closest thing I've seen to organic fast food is Chipotle. Yum.

[Jodi Aman]

Lattes are my vice!

[Amber Dusick]

Darn Portland. You guys have everything.

[Amber Dusick]

You're the billionth person who has mentioned Chick-Fil-A and until recently we didn't have those here. Saw one in Hollywood last week, guess I'll have to try it!

[Amber Dusick]

I love Chipotle, I wish they had a drive-thru!

[Amber Dusick]

That is awesome. I think I need to move to Australia.

[Amber Dusick]

Yeah, I thought about this when I was writing this post! I could order yummy delivery and just have them deliver it to the parking lot when the kids are asleep. Totally going to do this.

[Tara]

It is funny you say this because it was like that with me and my DH. Now they are all grown up and out of the house we have the money to buy but we don't need the big one anymore. Surprisingly it takes no time at all because we go in tell them what we want and say write it up. No shopping around! I knew the kids were expensive but it is a real shocker now that we get it all to ourselves (LOL) just how much they were costing. We are enjoying while we can because I think grandchildren will be expensive too.

[Kris]

Every time we get in the car my older girl announces she's hungry and needs a hamburger and french fries. You'd think that was all I ever fed them! The reality is that we get it once every couple months, maybe. If I have a lot of errands and forget snacks. When I was in Las Vegas there was an organic fast food place called Evos. It was soooo good, and very reasonably priced. And they had recycling bins! It was pretty awesome.