Observe below a photo I took on the sly of the people sitting next to me at a coffee shop. They have one baby and easily half a dozen small Tupperware containers full of baby snacks. I have seen many parents like this...they seem to think their children will starve if more than twenty minutes passes without some nutritious crumb passing into their baby's stomach. Me...not so much. The baby from this picture had the many options brought on his behalf (which were thrust into his mouth with exclamations of "good boy, what a good boy..."), plus, the parents valiantly attempted to ply him with tiny spoonfuls of their own food. I don't believe I heard the parents address a single word to one another, save a few comments about what the kid was eating.
Good times.





While I have never (ever) been one to truck a small supermarket of snacks around with me, I remember well the days of babies and toddlers, messy tables and truncated conversation. Mostly, those days are behind us. With all of our kids at ages where the possibility of rational conversation exists, these crazy outings are a thing of the past. The kids are all fantastic companions when we are out, capable of providing terrific company.

Having said that, I enjoyed a rare treat today. Eric's mom has the kids, so I took my Saturday papers to the cafe and read for about two hours.





Doesn't that look civilized? All the more so when I compared myself to the people next to me.

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