Eating Out | Mom Blog | From Dates to Diapers™

My family and I are big fans of pancakes. My sis-in-law told me the other day that she had found a recipe that made scrumptious pancakes that tasted like those you could order at IHOP. I’ll take her word for it… I have only made pancakes completely from scratch maybe once. And I’m okay with that. Don’t get me wrong, I love IHOP pancakes. As long as I don’t have to make them. Depending on who makes them, we will either enjoy pancakes made from Bisquick or those made with Krusteaz. Easy.

I am super excited that IHOP will be offering a free short stack of their famous buttermilk pancakes to each guest tomorrow, from 7 am to 10 pm. Not only am I excited about the free pancakes, but IHOP is asking for donations, in exchange, to support the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals programs.

Each Sacramento area IHOP will collect donations for this program specifically for UC Davis Children’s Hospital. This makes me happy for more than one reason, but largely because Ethan and Zach spent the first few weeks of their lives at that very hospital.

So, go enjoy some free pancakes at IHOP tomorrow, and touch the life of a child while you’re at it!

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We are not afraid to eat out with our kiddos. (In fact, I think we eat out too much, but that’s a different story.) They all know how to behave at a restaurant, for the most part, and are generally quiet and cooperative, at least for a little while.

The key is to provide the kiddos with plenty of activities to occupy them. We generally have on hand the disposable place mats and crayons, from Classy Kid, that they can color on just in case we are dining at a restaurant that does provide a coloring menu or Etch-a-Sketch. We also make sure to have sippy cups, for the littlest ones, and one of their favorite toys.

Sometimes there is just nothing you can do to avoid spills and messes. I mean, isn’t that really why you eat out in the first place; so you don’t have to clean up?

Parent Bloggers Network and Burger King would like to hear our eating out horror stories. We don’t have many, but one that sticks out to me was when we were out with our good friends just before Christmas. You may remember the story…

We were all having a nice sushi dinner with Phil and Cami. At this particular restaurant there was nothing for the kids to do, and the booster seats sat precariously on the chairs (my first clue something was going to go wrong!). Ben started squirming in his booster seat, and one of the lovely servers came over and started telling him to be careful – You know, kind of looking at me to take care of him. (nice, huh?) Yeah well, because my kiddos sit in boosters quite often and had never before had issues, I told her that he was okay, and continued eating (yes, and talking).

No sooner than I put another bite in my mouth, Buddy Boo FELL OUT OF HIS CHAIR, right on his face. I jumped up, grabbed him, and sat back down to eat my humble pie. Well, my poor baby began bleeding everywhere. Oh, and he was screaming, too… I could see the waitress telling the others, “I tried to tell her…”

Ben was fine after a bit – He did manage to escape with only fat lips and a sore nose, but that was the last time he sat on a booster in a restaurant, unless it could be secured the the chair!

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.