there's no place like ______

Here's something that actually relates to both of my focus areas: money and health. Eating Out! It's a common pitfall for both the budget and the diet. Definitely one of my more self-destructive behaviors. To come clean, in the past year, there were big, long, huge phases spent eating out every night! Yes! Every single night of the week, we would eat out somewhere. I would pick the kids up from my parents and the question as we got into the car would be, not "what's for dinner", but, "where are we going to have dinner?". For this, I feel lots of mommy-guilt for so many different reasons. It's not the way things should be. And anytime money got tight and I would answer their question by telling the kids that we were eating at home, there would be protests and mutiny galore. Again, not how things should be. So, I was really surprised when I thought about it last week and realized that we have not eaten out, as a family, at a regular restaurant (defined by the presence of servers and lack of a drive-thru window) since New Year's Eve! Wow! That's a whole month of not (really) eating out! There was one meal at the mall food court, a couple of trips through drive-thrus (literally, only a couple) and they didn't usually involve the whole family- just the person who was running short on time. For our family, this is a huge reformation. And, what I found even more surprising than the fact that we hadn't really eaten out in a month was the fact that the kids did not protest or rebel against this as they had in the past. God must be on my side, because I can not remember a single time that the kids complained about eating at home or really asked to go out for supper this month (other than the occassional request for McDonald's- those will never go away- the clown has a firm grip on my kids). So, as a reward for our good behavior and hard work in regards to our money this month, we decided to treat the family to dinner at Baker's Square on Saturday night. This is usually one of the kids' favorite restaurants because they can have pancakes or dino-tots and pie (and I don't mind the pie, either). Plus, there is a great server there and he is awesome with the kids. We always ask to sit in his section and it makes having dinner more than just eating. When JT's our server, it's also an evening of entertainment- filled with magic tricks and songs and smiles. Sadly, JT was not working Saturday night :( but there were still pancakes, dino-tots and pie. But, I was shocked when the tables were turned from what I was used to. The kids were actually sitting there at the restaurant asking when we could go home. Yes- the exact same kids that used to wail and moan when I told them that we were eating at home just a few short months ago! The kids had done a total 180! I have no explanation for this, but I found this too odd not to share. It certainly makes it easier to stick with our budget plan when the kids cooperate!