Nora and Daddy
I have a confession to make: I'm scared to take Nora out in public by myself. I don't mind taking her to the park, where she can run around, or taking her on short errands, such as to Walgreen's. What I fear is taking her on a long outing to a place with other adults. I'm afraid that Nora will have a meltdown, and I won't know what to do. Everyone will be annoyed or even angry at Nora's behavior and will think of me as a bad daddy. Of course, this fear is mostly unfounded as Nora is very sociable and loves, loves, loves people. Still, I feel much more comfortable if Blair is with us. After all, she spends every day with Nora and can handle anything that I can't.
Given my irrational fear, it's not surprising that I was pretty nervous when Nora and I went to dinner at Melton's App and Tap last Saturday. But, I had nothing to be afraid of - no meltdowns, no crying spells, no angry patrons looking to run us out. Nora was her usual charming self, and I had a great time playing the spoiling daddy role.
The restaurant was somewhat busy, and Nora was hungry so I ordered us an appetizer to share: 3 soft baked pretzels (with Nacho cheese). Here is a photographic testament to the fact that we finished then off:
By the time we got our appetizer, I had relaxed. We were seated near the entrance, and Nora was making friends with every new family that entered. And once she had some food to eat, she had no complaints at all. So, I started to enjoy myself and got into the grove of being a dad out with his daughter. For Nora's entree, she got grilled cheese and fries. Blair probably would have ordered the veggies instead of the fries, but I figured 1) there was a chance that she wouldn't like the veggies, but I knew that she'd like the fries and 2) a night out with daddy was like a special treat, so she could have fries:
I considered dessert, but I thought that would be pushing my bad parenting luck. So we finished up, and I took Nora next door to see the pet store.
First, we saw rabbits. I don't know if Nora had ever seen real rabbits before, but she had a name for them: "Rats!"
Nora has a love/hate relationship with birds. She thinks that they are pretty and fascinating, but they scare her when they squawk.
She pressed her face against the glass until they started making noise, then she grabbed me tightly around the neck and hid her face. These birds were small, but there were a lot of them, so they did make a lot of noise. I can understand how a 19 month old would be frightened. Next, we saw the fish, which Nora, of course, called "Ernie!"
By then, the store was about to close, so I told Nora that we were going to leave. She called out "bird! bird! bird!" so I took her to see her nemeses again before we left. Overall, I had fun, and Nora did to. There may be nights when going out with Nora will be difficult, but Saturday was certainly not one of them. As we went home, I felt like Grover at the end of The Monster at the End of the Book: I told you there was nothing to be scared of.
Given my irrational fear, it's not surprising that I was pretty nervous when Nora and I went to dinner at Melton's App and Tap last Saturday. But, I had nothing to be afraid of - no meltdowns, no crying spells, no angry patrons looking to run us out. Nora was her usual charming self, and I had a great time playing the spoiling daddy role.
The restaurant was somewhat busy, and Nora was hungry so I ordered us an appetizer to share: 3 soft baked pretzels (with Nacho cheese). Here is a photographic testament to the fact that we finished then off:
By the time we got our appetizer, I had relaxed. We were seated near the entrance, and Nora was making friends with every new family that entered. And once she had some food to eat, she had no complaints at all. So, I started to enjoy myself and got into the grove of being a dad out with his daughter. For Nora's entree, she got grilled cheese and fries. Blair probably would have ordered the veggies instead of the fries, but I figured 1) there was a chance that she wouldn't like the veggies, but I knew that she'd like the fries and 2) a night out with daddy was like a special treat, so she could have fries:
I considered dessert, but I thought that would be pushing my bad parenting luck. So we finished up, and I took Nora next door to see the pet store.
First, we saw rabbits. I don't know if Nora had ever seen real rabbits before, but she had a name for them: "Rats!"
Nora has a love/hate relationship with birds. She thinks that they are pretty and fascinating, but they scare her when they squawk.
She pressed her face against the glass until they started making noise, then she grabbed me tightly around the neck and hid her face. These birds were small, but there were a lot of them, so they did make a lot of noise. I can understand how a 19 month old would be frightened. Next, we saw the fish, which Nora, of course, called "Ernie!"
By then, the store was about to close, so I told Nora that we were going to leave. She called out "bird! bird! bird!" so I took her to see her nemeses again before we left. Overall, I had fun, and Nora did to. There may be nights when going out with Nora will be difficult, but Saturday was certainly not one of them. As we went home, I felt like Grover at the end of The Monster at the End of the Book: I told you there was nothing to be scared of.