View from the Front Row

Tonight was our standard weekly tradition with me and the boys: It's Cici's Pizza Night!!! I pick the boys up from our friend Katie's house each Tuesday night while Kendra is at work. It's been a tradition we've done for some time now and the boys know when it's Tuesday! I get to Katie's and I hear "Daddy, good to see you. Can we go to Cici's?" (sadly not always in that order).

I'm always so proud of my boys and how they act when we are there. Honestly, I have a system and it works. Each of the boys has a role when we arrive and they do a good job. Tyler gets the tray and Colby gets another tray just so he can be like his brother. We always get the seat by the drink dispenser and the pizza line because it is very convenient and usually available. Tyler then gets Colby a booster seat while Colby waits patiently for his chair. Of course, Colby is now saying "No, Ty-yer, I dun wan a boooster - I a big boy now!" (how cute is that to hear!!!)

Colby sits down and Tyler gets his fun job of getting the Diet Coke for us. I always get one drink and 2 glasses of water but Tyler and I have a fun agreement of sharing the DC if we BOTH agree to always put the drink back in the middle of the table when we are finished with our turn. It's actually quite funny to hear your son say "Daddy, say Daddy - put it back!!" Ooops - enjoying that drink too much. But sometimes I just look at Tyler and he says "Oh sorry Daddy- here you go". I always get a large amount of pizza at one time (mostly "meat" pizza for Tyler and Alfredo pizza for Colby). I give each of them a little at a time and then treat the rest as their "feeder pool" plus this allows the hotter pizza to cool off. Nothing worse for a little boy to have HOT pizza in front of you that you can't enjoy.

The boys always act so good. Several times I've received compliments from strangers on the boys' behavior and from time to time the management at restaurant. It was the latter tonight. The manager came up and asked the boys how they were doing. "Gooooood" I think was what they were saying through all the pizza in their mouths. Then he said, "You come in here alot with the guys and they are always so good. We see alot of kids come in and out of here and your boys are some of the best." Anyone for dessert?? !!!!! Right then, if my boys had asked to have ice cream each night of their lives for the next 15 years, I would have agreed. Nothing brings a dad's heart more pride than hearing compliments like that. I thanked the Manager and assured him we'd be back again.

By the way, I always sit on the side of the table that faces the pizza so I can keep an eye on the types of pizzas coming out since my boys are somewhat picky. Plus, it gives the boys a chance to face the other way which is where they can see the TV's. It's a nice system. But as I sat there tonight on the front row of Cici's enjoying a wonderful evening of people watching (which is always fun!! HA), I couldn't help but have a great sense of pride and joy of watching these 2 great kids and to know that they call me Daddy!! Or is it the Cici's Man ... Oh, I don't care!!! Just as long as they keep going with me each week which makes every Tuesday a fun day to look forward to.

Thanks lit'l buddy-boos!!! I love you guys.

God bless you all,
SJ