Going out to eat with children

There is so much trial and error to having a semblance of a relaxing out to eat meal with little kids. I have a “going out bag” with kid supplies, which is entirely different than my day trip diaper bag essentially to keep the “going out to eat” toys/activities novel. Maybe I am overcomplicating having kids. For a while I had stickers. I have tired of picking and peeling stickers up off the floor, table, menu. Anyway, recently I feel like we found a few things that actually worked and make going out for lunch enjoyable. This seemed like quite the success, so I’d like to share what we found. My daughter, who is 3, has her struggles but in general is into coloring or pretending to take orders. This miniature “tablet” has become her waitress pad where she jots down our orders. Meanwhile, my son, 18 months, is the usually the harder to wrangle and keep semi contained while sitting at a restaurant table. He is wanting to be in motion. So, my husband happened upon a suction cup maze toy and magnetic blocks, both which have kept him entertained long enough for us to order food and beverage and eat some of what we ordered, which is saying a lot. My daughter also took a turn with the magnetic blocks. It may be helpful to have a magnet placemat, but we haven’t tried that idea out yet. In case this is helpful for anyone else.

“Waitress Pad”: https://amzn.to/4cwlm15

Suction Cup Toy: https://amzn.to/3xOwJSY

Magnetic blocks : https://amzn.to/3XWhzFF