Saturday, January 10, 2009

Old times..


Last night we went out for a family dinner. We also had Tomas' best mate and my friend ,who is like a mum to me, with us. I booked the table a day earlier for a 6pm sitting. Then, yesterday afternoon, I changed the booking to 6:30pm and added an extra seat. "No problems", the girl said, "Do you still want to be near the children's play area? We do also have a clown that comes at 7pm to entertain the kids". "Yes please and thankyou", I say.

We walked to the club as it is close to our house and we arrived at 6:30pm. The girl who was to escort us to our seats says, "Oh, your booking was for 6pm". "No, I called and spoke to a girl by the name of Sally and asked for a later booking and she said no problems and that we would be in the same area". They then escorted us to our table...miles away from where it was initially arranged. I was annoyed at this. The reason was simple... I cannot stand lack of communication, and the fact that we do not go out to dinner as a family often and we were looking forward to going out. I also like to make sure the kids are safe and in the right area, aka, not going off to try play the poker machines! So, from the back of the sitting area I could not keep tabs on the kids... unlike other parents who let their children run absolutely wild!

I ordered a prawn linguine and it was lovely. The waitress was also very efficient and she was very nice! The clown came through and rounded up the children, actually, he was a wizard not a clown last night. He performed magic tricks, made his rabbit appear from a hat and doves appear from under a table or somewhere. He is a brave wizard to let all those children handle his animals! He also painted the children's faces and they all loved it. The older children played games in the games room.

After dinner we moved to where I could monitor the children. A duet, I suspect were mother and son of Islander appearance, were singing in the lounge area. A keyboard and two microphones, they sang/mimed some Elvis songs, some rock n roll and some Neil Diamond and Tom Jones. It was good, and people got up to dance. It was, for me, reminiscent of the old days when I was a kid. We used to go to the Commercial Hotel on a Saturday night and enjoy dinner, then dance to a band. They'd let mum and dad stay there with us four kids. On condition that if we were good and if danced..... So we did. Mum would always get the band to play Sweet Caroline for yours truly... I could have just became invisible right then and there!

So, last night we stayed until the wizard packed up his paints and his menagerie. It was a good night in the end. I spoke to the manager who served me the drinks I ordered and said what a good evening it had turned out to be. He commented that my children were well behaved, then he served them some free lemonade. Admittedly, he was right, there were some children there who were not being supervised and getting up to no good. I know it would be annoying to other patrons. We left after the lemonade was consumed, we arrived home, happy, at 9:30pm.
Added note, 11:30am and Mia's first tooth has fallen out. Actually, she was brushing her teeth and it came out...yayyy :)

6 comments:

Mal Kiely [Lancelots Pram] said...

That's a genuine smile there! She's a kutie.

Oh pooh... don't you hate it when in a place like that, when basic communication should be essential for your customers, the left-hand forgets to let the right what the ferk is happening?

I'm so glad you're one of those parents who actually *cares* about their children when out in a place like that. there's nothing worse than having you and/or your childs' evening ruined because some feral runs amok unattended, trying to attract attention by being the biggest baddest blah-blah-blah...

BUT - because it sounds like you guys set some boundaries (and your kids seemed to respect other peoples space in a public place like that), it sounds like you ALL had a nice fun memorable family night.

Yay for Mia's first tooth! I think it's been a week for tooth falling out, huh? [giggles happily]

Hope you continue to have a positive weekend together. Thanks for sharing about your lives together thru your blog - I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Cyalayta
Mal :)

Cazzie!!! said...

Heya Mal, yeah, the night ended up all okey dokey. Speaking of kids running amok...some parents had a stern talking to tonoght at work by yours' truly as their children were running wild around the ward, up and down and screaming.... I told them to take them and go..people had migraines and had operations on their brains...derrr!

Anonymous said...

I hope Little Jo does not turn into one of those kids who runs wild.

It is weird Cazzie. You try and do the right thing and alert the venue to alterations, but you may as well not have bothered. The same has happened to us. We are just too nice.

Ginnie said...

It sounds like you had a fun and lively evening. It's been years since I've done anything like that. All my children are adults and I'd forgotten how much fun it can be with kids along.

Middle Child said...

Such a good story cazzie...I absolutely love hearing yours and others stories about what the families get up to...its good stuff

Cazzie!!! said...

Andrew, little Jo will be a balanced child because she has people who love her and will set her adequate boundaries. She is a lucky little girl to have you all :)

Ginnie, yes, children are fun to be around, but I have heard people utter it is nice to hand them back after spending an evening together, lol.

Therese, I am glad you like to read it :)