Just because she has children, doesn’t mean a mom can’t date! Or even just go out for a nice meal with her husband! Every mom loves a night out just like everyone else. Being waited on and served a fancy meal that has been cooked by someone else – what a wonderful time! And praise be to God, she knows she doesn’t have to do the dishes afterwards! All moms will take that when they can get it! However, since the job of “Mom” has an all encompassing, team-playing, multi-tasking, total coverage, fix or repair, on-call 24/7, taxi driving, household technician, domestic engineer, make all ends meet all the time, satisfy all the people all the time, no retirement, low financial income” job description, it is sometimes a bit on the hard side for a mom to just leave it all at home to venture out into the “other world” – the world of just adults on a just adult playing field.
That being said, next time you are in a restaurant and see a women doing what you think are “odd things”, remember…there’s a good chance she’s a Mom and just trying to adapt to the outside world. Give her a break! If you are a Mom – you’ll understand and can give her a silent, “You go, girl!” accommodation. If you are not a mom – take notes. That way when you become a mom, you’ll have fantastic advice from an expert! And since you have a Mom – read this and understand; then give your mom a call and tell her how much you appreciate her! Call her right there from the restaurant and it will bless her heart and give her the biggest smile she’s had since she did the same things for you!
So how do you know if a woman is a Mom on a date? When you see a woman doing these things, she is probably a fantastic Mom…on a date.
When a party’s name is called for seating, and the woman in the party asks for a table near the restrooms, she’s probably a Mom who has learned from past experiences.
If you see a table that has the silverware all piled in the center of the table or in front of the woman at the table, you are probably looking at a Mom creating a safe environment.
If you see your waitress passing your table with her arms full of silverware and headed to the kitchen, she probably just helped a Mom create a safe environment.
If you see a hostess carrying several clean, wine/stemware glasses away from a table, it was probably at the request of an experienced mother who knows what “big mess” really means!
If the only person at the table holding a menu is a woman, she’s probably a skilled Mom.
If you notice a waiter has a very scared look on his face as he turns an order into the chef, it is quite logical that he just came from a table where the woman asked if she could get the Chicken Cordon Bleu in “nugget style” – like any child-meal-preparing Mom would do.
When a waiter leaves a table with an unopened bottle of wine and returns with a handful of individually wrapped saltine crackers, he is most likely following the instructions of a team-playing Mom.
If you are in a fine dining restaurant or steak house, and notice a bottle of ketchup on a table, most likely you can attribute that to an accommodating Mom.
If you see a woman using a crayon on her lips in the fashion of lipstick, you are probably looking at a toddler’s Mom.
If the woman at the table kicks off her shoes once seated, most likely she has spent the day running around to make sure everyone else is taken care of – it’s what Moms do.
If you see a “To Do” list written in purple crayon on the backside of a placement, you know the dinner order took a little longer to prepare and this woman was utilizing her time wisely – a Mom’s “Specialty of the House”.
If you see a waitress leave a large stack of napkins at a table for two, it was probably at the request of the woman at the table who believes in emergency preparedness – like all Moms do.
When a waiter sets down a large tray and all you see is one meal and several extra plates, it’s probably a given that the woman is the Mom of several little ones.
A few minutes after dinners are served and the woman swaps plates with her partner, you’ve probably just witnessed a caring Mom, cutting the food into edible bits for her loved one.
Although it is standard etiquette to have dessert after a meal, if you see a couple with ice cream after their salad, just give that Mom an understanding smile.
If you see a woman finish her meal and then scoot her chair back and sit with lost look on her face, you can most likely bet that woman is a Mom who prefers having the calmness of a sleepy child in her lap at the end of a long meal instead of devouring a fancy, calorie-filled, fattening, sweet dessert and then have to deal with the weight gain!
If you see a woman walking out of the restaurant with three or four doggie bags or boxes, it’s a safe guess that there are some kids anxiously waiting at home to see what Mom has brought them.
If you spy a woman picking up a hand full of the little, after dinner mints at the reception desk as she walks in to be seated, you are witnessing a skill called “problem solving”. Any Mom knows that meals aren’t made in minutes, even by someone else.
If you spy a woman picking up a handful of little, after dinner mints at the reception desk as she leaves the restaurant, you are probably looking at a Mom that is anxious to get home to her babies!,
So next time you see a woman doing what you might consider weird or odd things at a restaurant – just feel privileged to know that you are witnessing, first-hand, a phenomenal person … a Mom. Everybody has one. Some are one and others can’t wait to be one. Some have one child, others have a dozen. She’s a multi-tasking, team playing, motivated, skilled and qualified person. She may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but she does the jobs of about 10 (or more!) people, so… move aside Corporate CEO’s! There’s a MOM in the house!
