A Sunday Night Story

My sweet sister-in-law and brother in-law are due to have their first baby any minute now, so to kill the time while we wait for the call announcing Lily’s arrival, I thought I would share a little story.

We knew it was probably a bad idea, but our craving for Mexican food from this place interfered with our ability to make a rational decision. Chuy’s recently opened up in Plano and I think everyone that lives within a 30 mile radius shares our excitement for this delicious food. The very long wait no matter what time you plan to go proves it! We have visited the Plano location once before, but my parents went early to get our name on the list. We have not been brave enough to actually go again on our own. We tried to go one other time and chickened out. Remember. Five. Month. Old. Baby.

On our way home from a birthday party in Dallas today we decided to call Chuy’s and check on the wait time. It was 5:15 so we felt good that maybe, just maybe, the wait would be slightly less. The hostess informed us of an approximate 30 minute wait. We decided to go for it. Griffin was asleep in the backseat. The game plan was that Nolan and James would get our name on the list and I would drive around the parking lot for 15-20 minutes and let him sleep a little longer. He had not had his afternoon nap so we needed him to sleep as long as possible. Here is what ensued.

I drop James and Nolan off. James calls me a minute later. 30 minute wait. I drive around and around and around in circles in the parking lot.

Griffin wakes up after about 10 minutes. DARN IT!! Not part of the plan.

I park and try to call James to come out and help me get Griffin, get the diaper bag, etc. No answer. I schlep it all into Chuy’s by myself. I find them huddled in a corner past all the masses of people. Check my watch. Should be about 15 more minutes.

Make a dash for an empty bench a couple minutes later. James and Nolan follow. Griffin is starting to get fussy, but we wanted to hold off feeding him as long as possible. James takes him for a walk. Nolan insists on going too. As soon as they are gone, there go their “spots” on the bench. Check watch. Should be about five to ten minutes now.

They return after a while and we wait and we wait and we wait. Griffin is done waiting. I start to feed him a bottle. Nolan asks if we can go home. We learn we are one table away. Then we wait and wait and wait some more. I tell James we will not be coming back to this establishment with children again. He agrees.

After a FIFTY-FIVE minute wait we are seated. As soon as the waiter arrives we inform him we are ready to order. We don’t just want to order drinks buddy. I finish feeding Griffin. He is temporarily happy, but we know we are REALLY pressing our luck now. James decides to take him once again for a walk. As I hand him to James he spits/throws up in proportions we have never seen before all over the table and floor. We do the best we can to wipe up, but of course we do not have nearly enough napkins and no waiter in sight! Nolan wants to go with James. I insist he stay with me.

Our food arrives. I call James to let him know to come back. His arrives back at the table looking stressed. Griffin is unhappy. James does not even sit back down. He decides to walk again. (We are not the kind of parents that sit at the table with a screaming child and pretend not to hear anything!)

I inhale the food that I have now waited a very long hour and a half for. Nolan then announces he has to go potty. Well of course! We are alone at the table and I contemplate what to do. I decide to call James again. He comes back to the table and we swap children. James and Nolan leave the table. I stand in front of the table holding Griffin because, for whatever reason, when his is in this “state” he does not want us to the have the pleasure of being seated.

James and Nolan return to the table. Griffin is in a better place. This irritates James (although he is relieved) because Griffin often seems much happier when he is in my care. What can I say? My children are Momma’s boys! I continue to stand in front of the table while James finally sits down to eat. I don’t want to press my luck.

After a few minutes it was apparent Griffin needs another walk. I spot our waiter and ask for the check. He gives me a strange look considering James just sat down to eat, but there is no time for anyone to dawdle. Tick tock. Tick tock.

By the time I return James has finished eating and the bill has been paid. We leave over two hours from when we arrived. We are tired, exhausted, and VERY ready to get home, but it does not end there.

The icing on the cake…… Griffin screams bloody murder the whole way home. Being overtired is a bad thing. A REALLY bad thing.

And so that is the story of a nice Sunday night dinner with my precious family.

The End.