Dinner with the twins....

How do you handle taking your multiples out to restaurants?

• How often do you take your children out to eat, and how old are they? 

My girls are 14 months old. We go out to eat a few times a month, mostly on the weekends.

• Do you have any tricks for keeping them entertained? 

Lots of toys, snacks and sippy cups. If they're being really fussy, letting them play with a straw usually does the trick. They're fascinated with straws. They love to chew on them and poke things with them. *go figure*

• Which restaurants do you find are the most family-friendly?  

We've been pretty lucky and so far and haven't found any places that are not kid friendly. Occasionally we visit a place with dirty high chairs with broken safety straps, or rude waiters and we make a point to not visit again, but for the most part the places around here have been excellent. The girls even have their favorite waitress at the local Indian buffet and love to chatter with her when we go out to eat.  

• How do you handle tantrums in restaurants? 

  Again, we've been lucky with this one, no tantrums (yet) *knock on wood*

• Do you ever venture out to restaurants without having extra adults to help out?  

Not yet.

• Do you think it's better to take your kids out to restaurants, and get them used to the experience, or refrain from eating out until they are old enough to understand the right way to behave? 

 Take them out now! The more accustomed they are to new places and new experiences, the better!

• Be honest- do you pick up the cheerios?

YES!

(unless some have rolled under other tables/out of reach...) 

Especially if the waiter has been polite to us, I go out of my way to make sure the girls don't make a mess. It's not the waiter's job to clean up *my* cheerios, they were nice enough to let us bring in outside snacks for the babies, it's the least I can do.  It's one of my pet peeves when parents leave a huge mess behind them. You brought it in, you clean it up!