May I help you?

Have you ever tried taking a toddler to a restaurant?  If you needed a good workout, or just needed to test the outer limits of your patience or the inner reserves of your strength, give it a try.  Today I braved what may be impossible moving forward: I took Leilani to the Cheesecake Factory to have lunch with a dear friend. Now, after she refused to sit in her stroller, high chair or booster seat (Leilani, not the friend), after she spilled the mega beer stein of ice water all over the bench we were sitting on, after scattering baguette slices and Cheerios as far as the eye could see, after the porcelain plate was dropped to the floor (thankfully without breaking), after the meltdown performance of a lifetime (plus two encores because our fellow diners couldn’t get enough), after she escaped under the bathroom stall door while we were in the ladies’ room, after she slipped under the table to lie postrate on the floor (that was fun), I am now home, lying prostrate on the floor.  All this prompted my friend to say “I think you’re ready for your village now.”  Yes, it takes a village to make it through the appetizers.  Remind me to put “village” on speed dial the next time I need to do lunch.