Steak or Chicken? I choose Chicken.

I keenly recall people warning me that life would never be the same after kids.  Skeptics, I thought. 

I don’t mean to brag, but Mark and I had a pretty fantastic life before little Lake graced us with his presence.  Impromptu weekend trips to Chicago, dinners at great steakhouses followed by evenings at wine bars, frequent concerts and movies – we basically did whatever we wanted to do, including a Mediterranean Cruise through Italy, the Greek Isles and Croatia.

Even during the pregnancy, we vowed not to let our soon-to-be-infant slow us down.  No little guy was gonna change our lives, we would change his.  We would drag him along to wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted and it would be great.  

And in truth, we pretty much do.  Roundhouse Bar at PIB with Lake in a sling-carrier?  Yes, I had a baby. . .in a bar! Dinner at a French bistro with 2 other (childless) couples?  Lake was there!  Drinks at a work-related happy hour with a 12-month-old running about?  Yep, we were those people (with a baby, in a bar, again!!).

The nice steakhouse dinners, though, seemed to have dwindled in frequency.

That’s not to say we don’t go out to dinner, we just go to more, do you say “family-friendly” establishments.

Friday night, we went out in search of some size 2-T Old Navy t-shirts  (they were on sale for $4!) and some grub.  We were successful in the clothing department, and after much deliberation, found ourselves at Chic-Fil-A.

Mmm, hmm.

We sat eating our chicken sandwiches, watching the big kids tear through the play area and parents scramble to keep their children from running around the restaurant in bare-feet. 

Then a couple, with 3 little boys ranging in age from, I’d say 6 months to 5 years, walked by.  She wrestled with her purse to find keys while managing the older kids, and he awkwardly clutched the baby on his left hip while a Coach diaper bag hung across his body.

“That’s totally gonna be us in a few years,” I realized. “Friday nights at Chic-Fil-A from here-on-out, huh?”

“Yep! You know what’s crazy, though?” Mark replied. “I’m really enjoying this.”

I smiled.  “Me too.”

Those skeptics were right, indeed.