A meal out....

Last Thursday, we made plans to meet Reagan for dinner since we had several commitments that evening and Mom really didn't want to come home and prepare dinner at 8 o'clock in the evening. After many suggestions, we decided to eat at Chick-Fil-A (which is one of our favorite restaurants). Our meal was good and conversation was full of fun, honest banter. Later, as we were leaving, I drove past a nice, sit down restaurant full of couples and families enjoying their meals and a small part of me wished for a time when we would eat at places that didn't have a playground for the kids. You know those kind of places where you sit down at a table to place your order rather than stand in a line at a counter???


Don't get me wrong, we do eat at those kind of places, but it isn't very often. Why is that? Well, part of the reason is that we now have two growing boys that eat A LOT and it is cheaper to feed them at fast food establishments. Another part of the reason is that fast food restaurants are more accommodating, at times, to families and their needs-an indoor playground is such a treat especially in this hot Texas heat. I also figure that if you are eating at Wendy's, McDonalds, CFA, and etc... you are not planning to have a nice, quiet, romantic dinner- in fact, if you eat at these places you expect a certain amount of chaos and noise.


This is what I realized.... this is my life right now. (Isn't that a deep, complicated thought for your day?!?!) This time of my life full of hungry boys which is often a little chaotic and loud is fleeting. It will not last. There will be a time when the house stays clean, laundry doesn't pile up in mounds, and I will cook for two instead of an army. I will enjoy that time, but it will have shades of sadness because it will mean that my boys have grown and are living individual lives. I am choosing to appreciate the noise of my boys playing in the next room and cooking for an army as well as laundry that seems to never end. I am choosing to cherish this time of my life knowing that it will change all too quickly. Quiet, sit down dinners (with just Reagan) will come and our montage of fast food establishments may fade........ truthfully, I may need another CFA sandwich just to watch a young mother with her precious crew.... and let the memories flood me of my own chaotic season of life- the part of my life that I am living now.