How, Why, and Where?

“The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why, and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question 'How can we eat?' the second by the question 'Why do we eat?' and the third by the question 'Where shall we have lunch?” ― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

You parents of small children will understand my reticence to take Maeve to a sit-down restaurant.  We had an incident, the Husband and I, at a local eatery about a year and a half ago which convinced us that she was not ready for prime time when it came to restaurants.  There was a lot of running around the place, and it all ended in tears.  Thankfully there was almost no one in the establishment at the time.  But we decided then, that we needed to wait.

But that was a long time ago, I told myself as we headed out the door to Applebee's last night.  And maybe Maeve was ready to try again.  She is obviously a lot more mature than she was when we last attempted this.  And I had the power of bringing along one of Maeve's favorite people, her godmother, around whom she makes an effort to behave herself, most of the time.  And to add to the sense of occasion, she got dressed up and carried her new purse.  We were stepping out.

And this harebrained scheme?  It worked.  Maeve sat in her seat the whole time - with a few trips under the table and one to the potty.  She ate a reasonable amount of her dinner, watched the other diners quietly and without being intrusive, and managed to keep a good attitude while waiting for her dinner and for the check.  I feel like we're really turning a corner!  I'm glad I took a chance and let her try again.

Excuse the odd look on Maeve's godmother's face - she's reading aloud.