Good for something

Last night Lucian and I met Nemo for dinner. I chose the restaurant: it was one of those design your own stir fry type of places and I thought it would be a more nutritious choice for Lucian than the usual hamburger/french fry combo.

When we go out to eat, I always try to get a booth because I can put Lucian closer to the wall and block his exit. He's long done with high chairs and booster seats. He can get up and jump around though, which is usually why I usually choose faster, waitress-free meals when we go out. When we have dinner with Nemo, Lucian always sits next to him. And I sit across and try to control all my feelings and emotions.

It used to be that I'd have to sit on my hands, nervously drink my Diet Coke and keep my mind occupied on something else. The control freak in me always wanted to jump in to meet Lucian's every need. It was difficult to turn that over to someone else, particularly Nemo, even for one meal. Being in public and fearing an embarrassing scene didn't help me either.

I realized last night just how far I've come. Lucian was antsy, and quite full from the salad portion of the meal so he didn't want to eat. Nemo was successful getting him to eat a few bites of his meal, plus some soup and more of the vegetables from the salad. The restaurant was loud, busy, and distracting.

As I finished my meal, I sat back and observed Nemo and Lucian. Lucian was ready to leave, and Nemo was worn out. He was frazzled. We discussed how maybe Lucian just wasn't ready for that type of restaurant, despite our best intentions. I had a wonderful, relaxing meal. I was an observer and occasional commenter, but with Nemo attending to most of Lucian's needs, I was free to enjoy my meal. Maybe it wasn't the most relaxing meal I've ever eaten (is that even possible with a 2 year old??) but considering how most of our dinner's out go, it was very enjoyable.

This is one of the things I've missed being a single parent. Having someone there to help you. My parents do help me a great deal, but it's different having another parent to help you.

As the title of this post suggests, I've found that Nemo is good for something. Surprisingly, thanks to medication and therapy (on both our sides), I'm okay with relaxing a bit of my super tight control over the situation. And that's good for more than something, it's good for everything.