We thought she'd fall asleep on the way to the restaurant... and she was ALMOST there. But ALMOST just ain't good enough. After work last night we decided to go out to eat... neither of us felt like cooking, and with our budget these days it's usually a nice treat to go out for dinner. I was looking forward to a quiet, intimate dinner with my husband and sleeping baby... She was immediately squirmy... and before the ridiculously overpriced food arrived at the table I looked at Rob and said that maybe this wasn't a good idea. I was actually thinking that I would rather be at home cooking than dealing with an upset baby in a restaurant. I'm sure some of you have been there... Rob started eating - you know, the typical "eating in shifts" thing. I started doing my best to get T to sleep... she was so tired, but not giving in. Eventually, with Rob halfway through his meal and me two bites in, I decided I should take her outside where the white noise of traffic could help calm her. As I paced I looked back in the big window at my lonely husband and my cooling food. As soon as he finished, Rob came outside and took T. The extent of our "intimate conversation" over dinner happened at this point.
Erin: Are you finished eating?
Rob: Yup.
Erin: K.
I handed her off... and went in to eat my food... yes, it had cooled off, but I was too hungry to really care. I guess I had a quiet dinner after all. You know it's bad when the waitress tries to make you feel better by reminiscing about how she had "been there too."
But with the last few bites of my meal something changed. In the midst of this bad, very bad dining experience I felt my heart grow... sitting at the table looking out the same window I was looking into before, I saw my darling husband pacing with our baby girl... he glanced over, as if trying to catch my eye, and smiled. His smile melted my heart and caused all that tension to dissolve. And in the quietness of my lonely table with my empty plate, I watched him continue to pace and took a mental picture that I won't ever forget... our daughter had melted in his loving arms. I say that makes last night the BEST bad dinner ever.
1 comments:
Kristin Johnston said...
Sweet post, Erin! What a blessing that you can see the blessing in the difficulty!