That'll be four adults, and four high chairs.

There are many times when I am overwhelmed with a deep sympathy for a complete stranger. Reading a tragic autobiography, or watching a sad news story.

Or this past Tuesday night, when I felt sorry for our waitress.

Here's the deal. It was my mom's birthday, and my sisters and I, along with the four grandbabies, were taking her out to eat. As I've mentioned before, the grandbabies are 2 1/2 years, 18 months, 9 months, and 10 weeks. So, as the title states, we needed seating for four adults, and four high chairs.

I was the last one to arrive, and as I was walking my son into the lobby, the hostess spotted me. "Are you at the table with all the moms and babies?" (Like we're having a convention? It's only 8 people, and half of those are tiny.)

"Yeah, I guess so." What else could I say? Maybe there was a Mommy's Night Out group meeting. Or a baby shower. I had to assume that what tipped her off is the fact that my sisters and I do share a bit of a family resemblance. Still, it would have been embarrassing if she'd accidentally sat me with another table.

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Your kids aren't listening, but they're watching...so practice what you preach.

Went out to lunch with my dad (my son's "Poppa") today. There's a nice little sportsbar with a decent menu super-close to my work, so we headed there. It's a "seat yourself" type place, so we grabbed a table in the corner.

Then we sat there for a while. We had arrived around a quarter after noon, so the place was fairly full by the time we got there and, apparently, no one had noticed us come in. Once we reached this realization, my dad and I promptly began to argue about who should go alert the bartender to our presence.

Dad: She'll think I'm a creepy old guy hitting on her. Go tell her we're here.

Me: But...I don't wanna.

Dad: You need to be more assertive. They're here to wait on us. We're the customers. In fact-

Me: Okay, fine. I'm going.

I told the bartender where we were sitting, and she came right over to take our drink orders. The service remained okay up until a little while after our food had arrived. Being the middle of the lunch rush, the place was pretty full, and my dad's glass sat empty for a while awaiting a refill. Since our waitress looked to have her hands pretty full, the manager walked over and offered to grab a refill for us. Sure, that'd be awesome. Right after he walked away from our table, the waitress came over with refills.

Dad: Oh no. He's coming back over here with a refill. He's going to have wasted a trip and be mad. Here, help me hide this drink.

Me: I thought you said we were the customers and they were here to wait on-

Dad: Let's put the napkin holder in front of it.

So, what lesson do you think I learned from my dad today? To be assertive? Or to pretend you're out of beverage so a server doesn't think you put them out?

Not that I'm any better. I'm constantly telling my son not to climb on things because it's not safe, but I'll also climb on top of the counters to get something off the refrigerator.

But then, isn't that one of the perks of having kids...mild hypocrisy?

I want YOUR reviews!

I've got talks in the works with a couple of places to do some reviews on Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) kid-friendly businesses here on the site. (Look for those posts coming up in the next couple of weeks.) But the problem is, as only one person, I can only cover so much ground.

So I want your suggestions. Where in the Triangle are the best places to bring kids? And I'm talking stores, restaurants, entertainment, you-name-it. Tell the place and what you like about it, and I'll try to contact them to arrange a feature. Easy as that!

Leave a comment below, or join the conversation on facebook or twitter. (Handy little subscription buttons are over there to the right!) ---------------------->

So good, no one had to pee on the floor...

After relating my disastrous experience at On the Border last night, I was pleasantly surprised at the stellar service I just received at Mimi's Cafe.

I was, admittedly, a little apprehensive about attending a friend's baby shower in a restaurant. Baby showers tend to be crowded, loud, and messy, all things you don't want to be around your food. But the staff at Mimi's Cafe in Cary exceeded all expectations.

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