Adventures in parenting!

Those of you who are parents will really appreciate this. Those of you who are not, you will see what you have to look forward to.

All was calm at the Wookiee Lair last night. I had a long day of watching Elmo, Mickey Mouse, the Backyardigans and Wonder Pets (I really hate that show)!

I gave Wookiee Jr. his bath and put him in his jammers (pajamas for those of you without children)and we hung out it until it was his bedtime.

Putting WJ (Wookiee Jr.) to bed can be a real ordeal sometimes. He needs this particular blankie, Mickey Mouse or his stuffed tiger, milk, etc. If we happen to venture out of our room while he is still awake he is out of his bed wanting more milk. So usually we just close our bedroom door until he falls asleep. Last night went surprisingly well in terms of bedtime. Or so I thought.

Around 8:20 or so, I heard a thump outside my bedroom door. I figured it was one of our cats running around being stupid. It happens all the time. So I am going about my business when I hear my wife exclaim, "What have you done !?!?!?!?!?" I think to myself, "This ought to be good." Boy, it sure was.

My wife opens the bedroom door and in marches WJ, covered head to foot in Balmex. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a cream used to treat diaper rash. It is in his hair, on his jammers, his arms, on Mickey Mouse (He had a "boo-boo" according to WJ), on his bedsheets and blankets, and a streak of it going straight down the middle of his face like he was an extra in "Braveheart."

Mrs. Wookiee snatches him up and takes him back to the bath tub to begin the degreasing. She had to wash his hair 4 times and it will take a few more cleansings to get his hair totally clean. The story would be mildly amusing if it just ended there. But wait, there's more.

Mommy takes WJ into his room for a fresh pair of jammers and to put new sheets on the bed. Then I hear, "Don't pee on the floor!" Yep, my kid had peed on the floor of his bedroom. He then comes running buck naked into my room trying to escape the wrath of Mrs. Wookiee. I didn't immediately answer her cries for help because I was laughing my butt off. If I would have gone in there immediately, I would not be writing this blog because I would be dead. I managed to get him in a nighttime diaper and his new jammers. We managed to get him in his bed and retreated to our room for a well-deserved rest.

Did I mention the irony of this whole situation? Right before the Balmex incident, we were sitting in WJ's room as the boy watched the Backyardigans having a discussion about trying to have another child.

After last night, I am thinking we might be better off just getting a puppy.

That is all.

Best service ever!

Recently my best mate David$ made a post on his blog about a negative dining experience that he had recently http://broadwaydave.blogspot.com/2009/07/little-tip-for-you.html We have all had dining experiences like that. Those types of experiences suck.

Well, my family and I had the exact opposite experience last night. Let me set the scene. I had a very trying day keeping up with Wookiee Jr. The poor child, through no fault of his own, was getting on my last nerve. Mrs. Wookiee sensed that I had experienced a very trying day with out son and recommended we go out to dinner as a family. I was all for that.

We decided on the Chili's in Fultondale. It is relatively new and we have only been there a couple of times and had a decent experience both times. This one took the cake, in a positive way.

Haley, our server, greeted us at the door with a big smile and took us immediately to our seats and also remembered to bring the crayons and activity page for the kid. Major points there. She immediately went and got the booster chair for the boy. Okay, things are off to a great start. Surely it will go downhill from here. Nope. Things just got better.

She thoroughly explained the 2 for $20 deal where you get an appetizer, 2 entrees and a dessert. We gave her our drink orders and perused the menu, expecting to have a little more time. She was back in a flash with our drinks and I still wasn't sure what I wanted. In the meantime she brought us some Chips and Salsa. We ended up getting some sort of queso stuff for our appetizer. It was awesome. I ordered the chicken tacos, my beautiful wife got a cheeseburger and the boy got a cheese quesadilla and mandarin oranges. All during our wait she checked on us and kept our drinks topped off. More points there. Our entrees got there in short order and we proceeded to chow down.

My entree was great. My wife was enjoying hers. Our child loved his mandarin oranges but would not touch the quesadilla. Typical. Anyway, he wanted more oranges, and Haley (very cheerfully) went and got him some more oranges. All the while our kid is turning around in his seat flirting with the bartender (a young blond girl). Complete strangers usually just come up to us and tell us what a cute kid we have (which we do BTW). I think he has picked up on this and goes fishing for compliments now.

For dessert we chose the molten chocolate cake (or something like that) and it was absolutely beyond delicious! on the top of this chocolate filled dream was a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream and some Magic Shell type chocolate sauce. To top it off she brought the boy his own dish of ice cream. Wow!

Anyway, I have to make a pit stop in the Little Wookiee's Room and when I get back my bride's left over burger and fries have been boxed up along with our left-over chips and........extra salsa! She brings us our check and lets us take our time in paying. She mentioned in passing that we looked like we had been having a rough day and needed a pick-me-up. Boy was she right. I don't know if she was being genuine or not (I think she was) but it was most appreciated and when we go back, we sure hope get her as our server again. Needless to say, she got more than a 20% tip. She earned every penny.

If any of you ever venture to this particular Chili's, consider yourself fortunate if you get her as your server.

That is all.