moving on up...

Well we finally did it! We have rid ourselves & the tribe of their highchairs! They needed this about as much as we did! Not only did our little ones grow up but our dining room actually looks like a dining room again. YAY! I have NO idea how the eight chair arrangement will fit around our table yet. Hopefully we will be cozying up for a meal soon! The more the merrier! Congrats to the tribe for...

moving on up...

booster seats...

This is the latest plight in my life, why restaurants never seem to have ENOUGH booster seats?! I agree that we happen to have a "tribe" & we may not get the 4 that we need. HOWEVER, most families have at least one kid, maybe two. Why not splurge & get a few to accomodate the many!? It really bugs me when a brand new restaurant that has just as many booths as they do tables would they only have 2 for the ENTIRE place! This is what happened to us when we went out to celebrate Grandma's birthday! The place Grandma chose just re opened as a NEW Steak House. It used to be a Hop's restaurant. You know the place that used to make their own beer. Well, they went under just like most other places due to the economy. I think people just did not want a microbrewery anymore. So enters the NEW "Original" Roadhouse. Now do not get me wrong, the food was YUMMY but they made us a LOT of promises getting us in the door. First they took our reservation for a party of ELEVEN at 6pm over the phone and once we arrived they said they do not take reservations. HOWEVER they had our name on the list & then told us they gave our table away. Michael was a bit peeved about that. As a family with 4 toddlers we ALWAYS plan ahead & there are a few "needs" that we have to have for us to have an enjoyable meal. The BIGGEST need is either a booster chair or high chair with straps. They just do better restrained with no means of escape! LOL! Being that we were a LARGE group they now had to get creative in trying to accomodate us! It ended up that we could not all sit together which was fine BUT they did not think of the arrangements before they sat us down. We were across the aisle from each other & 1 table was about a foot higher off the ground than the other. You know the kind that you have to step UP to get into? I did not think it would be a problem once we had our 2 boosters that they promised us. Well, the next thing was that they could not find ANY boosters for us. It ended up that they only had 2 for the ENTIRE place & they were already taken. Imagine they only had 2! YIKES! I pity all of those other families also waiting for a seat! In the end they expected us to put 2 highchairs at the end of each booth. Remember the table is about a foot higher than the other booth so it was going to be interesting. Knowing that the aisle should not be blocked as a fire hazard I kind of got worried. First was the two highchairs at the end of a HIGH booth. Camryn & Avery did not like it one bit! Then just 3 feet behind them was another set of highchairs. The waiters had to squeeze in between the 4 highchairs just to get through with their food orders, etc. The weird part is that no one ever thought to move us! You can already tell that it was not much fun mostly for me but we were there to celebrate Grandma so we made the most of it! People can not believe that we take our "tribe" out to eat, but they LOVE it! AND for the most part they are VERY good that is with restraints! LOL! No one understands our plight because they do not deal with this day in & day out. You view things TOTALLY different when you are raising multiples. I decided right then & there that I am going to purchase our own boosters so we NEVER have this problem again. We left after dinner, no coffee & dessert. I just wanted to get out of there! Michael told me that the manager told him that they would take care of us the next time we came in. Little does he know that we will not be taking him up on that anytime soon.
So my message to all of you restaurant owners out there, Buy more...

booster seats...

party of 7....

I have thought about this for quite awhile. What it feels like when we attempt to actually go out for dinner, a treat for us, and for it to turn out being a not too great experience. I really think this occurs because businesses do not know about people like us. They do not know what it requires for us to have an ok time. Let's just face it the real world has no clue what it is like raising multiples & I sure do wish they did. I have a "bag of tricks" that I ALWAY'S bring with us when we go out. It has their "feeding" bib's a must so their clothes do not get soiled, sanitary wipes to clean off EVERYTHING, a few table toy's to occupy their time and the minimal diaper stuff just in case.. Now what we can not guarantee is that the restaurant we end up at will be able to accomodate us with seating. Do you know how hard it is to feed toddlers in a "big boy/girl seat"? C-R-A-Z-Y!! They need structure & restraints/seatbelts so they are not able to wander around the place. Let's just face it most establishments can not accomodate a family like ours. You go out to eat & you are LUCKY to get 2 highchairs let alone 4! (Remember there are other people thinking like us & need highchairs too!) I would have thought S Florida of all places would have plenty since so many people vacation here but alas no. We feel like we won the lottery if we find a place that has 4! So we plan our dinners out around what restaurant & what time we think there is not a lot of families going to be there. We had this happen to us over the summer in of all places the local zoo. We decided to have lunch at the normal time, BIG mistake! LOL! They actually had quite a few highchairs more than a normal place would have had EXCEPT they were all in use! We started to bring our quad stroller in to feed them out of but luckily another mommy from my multiples group was there & gave us 2 of their highchairs. We were 1/2 way to the 4 that we desperately needed. It is in times like this I feel I should stand up on my soap box & share with the world by "multiples" struggles. I feel if I can help one person see what it is like to be a quad mommy than maybe I can help create change. Trust me when I see something that could be just a little better I tell them. I have complained to local malls that do not have motorized wheel chairs. (Besides helping a handicapped person they can help a pregnant mommy tremendously!) I am alway's on a "mission" to show people there is a better way. Not that I have enough on my plate, I just care. Currently my mission is in the "Mommy & Me" dept. SO many places restrict us by making it a requirement to have a parent per child for most activities. I really do not feel that a mommy of twins or more should not be allowed to participate just because she does not have anyone there to help her. AGAIN this is just my opinion but I will stand up on my soap box & share it with whomever will care to listen. If I can make just one establishment have more than 4 highchairs or organization let me attend minus 3 other set's of hands I will have done my job. For now I just hope for the best when I say Fulton...

party of 7....