I remember in the early 2000's BC (Before Children), my wife and I would spend countless nights eating dinner at nice, not too fancy, restaurants and enjoying our meals at our own pace. We would talk about the state of the world and life in general. Who am I kidding, I was probably rambling on and on about some comic books I read and she was probably just being nice and listening to me. You know, good conversation.
All that changed once our first child was born. When she was a baby it was all candy and glitter as she slept in her car seat and we enjoyed our meal. If she started getting antsy, we would give her a bottle or her pacifier and all would be golden. As she got older, things started to change. Fussiness would become crying and crying would lead to tantrums. It would get to the point that we would have to rush sometimes and our nice long dinners turned into asking for to-go containers once our food arrived.
