3/23/2006

A Recipe for Disaster ...

Sí, it is true. Last night, Papá took los niños out to eat at a Mexican Restaurante to give Mama a well deserved siesta. I feel so sorry for her. Every day I come home from the market, and see my poor esposa, so tired and worn out from the little bandidos that invade our hacienda day after day. They torture her from dawn 'til dusk with their wild games and crazy antics. They wear her down with crying and whining, raising their voices like the coyotes howling at a full moon. And they refuse to eat their frijoles, rice, and tortillas (even when Mama puts on the peanut butter and jelly!) like good muchachos and señoritas should.

So, I gave my muchacha bonita a night off.

Seriously, it had nothing to do with the expiration date on my special "birthday" coupon. That was simply a coincidence, no? Ok, so I'm fully expecting my kids to be on their worst behavior (thinking anything better will be a mucho grande success!) due in large part to my wife's insistance that I'm crazy loco to be taking three young children out in public by myself. But hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time! Little did I know ...

So the kids all sang along with Larry the Pepino and Bob the Tomate as we rode our donkey (Sir Charles Vanderbuilt III) all the way into the village. It took a long time to get there. Mi pequeño muchacho Alex was fast asleep when we finally arrived, and had to be woken up by his little sister Louisa. We all meandered into Mi Hacienda and were seated promptly.

Our waiter was very nice. He attempted to tickle Annie once, but in return got a very inhospitable glare. We placed our order and started in on the big bowl of chips and salsa. Louisa munched like a champ! She'd dip her chip in, and then take a large crunchy bite. Alex didn't go much for the salsa, and Annie preferred to dip her chip, and then slurp the salsa right off. She handed me her single soggy chip after the bowl had been drained, and I obligingly finished it for her. After that, we all marveled at the beautiful decorations. Underneath our glass-topped table we found some brightly-colored tropical birds and flowers. No such luck with naming them "eagles" or "toucans" or whatever they were, just "birds." We also saw a half-moon/half-sun decoration that Alex was leery of. He insisted that the moon was a "bad-guy" and had to keep a close watch on him all through dinnner.

Speaking of dinner, it was delicious! Burritos, tacos, enchiladas, french fries (what?!? ok, so I ordered them "just in case" because you never know with these kids) rice, and beans. Louisa ate very well, and the other two ... well, they didn't go hungry. And nobody made a big mess either! I was very impressed, and very full after eating more than my share of the grub. Annie finally smiled at our waiter too. After redeeming our coupon, it was time to head back to our casa.

My favorite part of the evening? Watching Alex hold Annie's hand as they crossed the empty parking lot, and stop to watch a bug crawl across the ground. Their favorite part of the evening? Getting home and eating ICE CREAM!

All in all, it was a recipe for disaster ... but then again, I'm not a very good cook!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brave man. I never had the courage to do that. You pulled it off - but kids are fickle. Don't get over-confident - they may never let you do it again!

Anonymous said...

Jory - I love the entry, espanol and all. You are awesome for taking the kids out. I love it when it happens here, even if it's just to get a carry-out breakfast while I get ready for church (in peace) :-). -Kathy

Anonymous said...

Brave brave Jory
Mom

Teresa said...

I can respect a guy who can step up and BE the daddy, regardless of the outcome! Kudos to you! :)

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...