The Olive Garden

We had our first dinner in a restaurant with baby. Not recommended, but it had to happen sometime. By the time we got to the Olive Garden to meet Ginger and her husband, baby Kendra was wailing - she was hungry and we had been driving for a couple of hours, so she'd had enough of the carseat as well.

As soon as we parked, I got into the back seat and fed her. Then, she pooped in her diaper. Ah, great, I thought, as I pulled on the handle of the car door. And the door didn't open. Here I am, wedged in between a carseat and the door in the backseat of a tiny Toyota sedan, with a poopy baby. My husband was already inside the restaurant. My cell phone rings. It's him, but I can't reach the phone. It's in my purse, on the floor in the front of the car. Later I listened to his message, something like, "Hurry up, we're waiting."

Anyone who has had a baby will tell you that when a baby is in a carseat, a poopy diaper has a tendency to leak. I guess it's the way the baby's bottom fits into the seat that causes this. Who would have thought I would ever care? But at this moment, I really do. Because where am I going to put the baby so that I can reach over the seat to get my phone? I decide to put her in the car seat, but with her feet where her head should go. Hey, it's worth a try. And it worked! No leaks.

I finally get my cell phone - by reaching over the seat in front of me, in a skirt - so that my husband can rescue us. Of course, I can't go to the table yet. That diaper must be dealt with. I head for the restroom, only to find NO diaper changing station. Lovely. There's a leather chair in there that I use instead. Hey, I was careful. How could they not think of the babies when they designed the restroom?!

I complain to Ginger about it as soon as I get to the table. And baby poops again. I head back to the restroom, after my husband swears there is nowhere to change a diaper in the men's room. I have my doubts. Also, I have only one baby wipe.

Well, after all of that, everything went well, baby was fairly content, smiling at the plates that hung on the walls. I still can't believe there was no diaper changing station! But - OH, I forgot to check the handicapped stall. I bet there was one inside the handicapped stall! And that's when Ginger says, "Oh, there was one in there, now that you mention it."