Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Last night we were supposed to go to an outside restaurant for Mexican food with our son-in-law and two grandsons, but everything conspired against us. Firstly,our son-in-law was late and with an almost two year old and five year old, they are melting down by the minute. The five year old wanted his stuffed kitties from their house, but we were at ours, and he refused to walk to the car. In said car he kept up the wheedling, and when we reached the cafe, there was no parking in the lot or nearby, so when we finally found a spot it was a long walk, again with the five year old balking. It was dark, it was cold, and when we got there the line was long and there were no tables. We finally left, and as we got back in the car, I said to drop my husband and I off at home. Going to their house was going to mean waiting for a food delivery and watching a toddler show on TV and more meltdown. My husband and I had Progresso soup and grilled cheese at home, and were exhausted and a bit depressed. I told my daughter today in a text that we really never took our own kids out to dinner, because kids that age are overtired and irrational. But her generation somehow thinks with a magic formula they can take out young kids. At 5 pm, maybe, but not at 7. I felt guilty for not staying and helping, but it had not been my idea to begin with. She was meeting with teacher friends, and we were meant to help our son-in-law handle kids, and they only wanted daddy. Only the younger one would even hold our hand, but then he had to be carried most of the time. Ugh. We try to be respectful and go along with whatever the parents plan, but sometimes, I think I should just opt out. Especially when I know it's not going to end well.