Parenting Tricks | Taking Four Kids Out to Dinner
Sponsored by Beekeeper’s Naturals
If you haven’t already heard, we have four kids. And we have four kids that we love to do everything with - we travel frequently, we bring the kids out to dinner at least weekly and really, we just like to get out and DO THINGS with them. Was that always easy for us? Nope, no way. Not even with one kid was it easy. Is it easy now? Sometimes yes and sometimes no and sometimes it’s a little in between. But that doesn’t stop us because we know in the long run that 1. we love creating these memories with them and we [almost never] regret it and 2. the more we take them out, the easier it gets [for the most part].
But of course they all have they’re moments. They’re kids! Heck, I have my moments and I’m an adult.
One question we get so often is:
“What are your tricks for taking all four kids out to dinner?”
First of all, sometimes I go crazy. Oftentimes it’s not easy. We’ve had dinner experiences where we order and just end up taking our food to-go. Although this is not common, it happens. And while we aren’t against screen time (we use them a lot for airplane travel), one thing that is very important to us is having no-screens at dinner time, both out to dinner and at home. We’ve done it maybe 2-3 times since Ava was a baby but for the most part, we don’t do that because that is something that is very important to us. We want our kids to learn to have conversations at the dinner table, to learn to be bored and to learn how to behave in public.
So what do we do when taking the kids out to dinner gets tough? I’ve got a couple tricks up my sleeve (aka in my purse):
Distract: Sometimes it’s as easy as that! Play peek-a-boo with a napkin, color if the restaurant provided crayons and sometimes just one of us will take a kid outside and walk around until our food comes (although this is another last resort for us).
Drawing Pads: I have these little scratch drawing pads that the kids love! They’re tiny and don’t requirement crayons or much space and sometimes a little coloring time is all they need to get them to when the food arrives.
Beekeeper’s Naturals Lollipops: I encourage all parents to keep a little stash of lollipops in your purse because truly, this works every time! They’re long lasting, they love them and again, it’s a distraction that’ll help them get to when their food arrives. Works like a charm EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Psst… you can find Beekeeper’s Naturals products at Walmart or on their website with discount code: MOMMY 20
And if you haven’t yet heard of Beekeeper’s Naturals lollipops (I talk about these products constantly!), let me tell you a bit about why I love them:
50% less sugar than most lollipops out there
made with honey, Vitamin D and Zinc
They have propolis in there and if you haven’t heard of propolis before, this stuff is GOLD.
Remember the Beekeeper’s Naturals throat spray I talk about all the time over on Instagram (I’ve post about them here on my blog too!), the spray the me and the kids use every single morning, the spray that I swear has kept us sick-free for over a year? This year was full of sickness for the rest of the world and the only time we got sick was a quick 24-hour bug for just 4 out of 6 of us. I swear by this stuff!
So what is propolis?
Propolis is the bodyguard of the beehive, lining the hive and preventing germs from entering. So it does just that for us humans too and supports our human immune systems. You’ve got to try this stuff and report back because I will never stop using it!
Beekeeper’s Naturals throat spray and lollipops can both be found at Walmart and they’re two of my best parenting secrets… well, not secrets because I talk about them all the time. So I guess, they’re two of my best parenting hacks that I’m passing on to you. And I hope they both help you as much as they’ve been beneficial to our family!
Use Beekeeper’s Naturals Discount Code: MOMMY20 for 20% off!
