Dinner Delight

This evening, while I was taking Max into the bathroom at Red Lobster, a lady passed us and commented, "Oh your kids are so happy." I chuckled a thanks. She obviously didn't hear all the screaming and crying going on in the car.

But sometime during the dinner, they crossed the line. The line that separates the adorable behavoir from the disturbing kind. The line that delineates when the people smile at my children's silly antics....and when they frown in disappointment. The line that's drawn between when people are happy to be entertained by my kids' smiles....and when they longed to be moved to a different side of the room.

I'm not sure what it was that caused the crossover. Maybe it was Max dancing in the middle of the restaurant. Or maybe it was Max changing several chairs. Or maybe it was Max spilling his full cup of chocolate milk on the group. Or maybe it was Ella screaming at the top of her lungs because Cameron refused to give her any of his apple sauce. Or maybe it was Ella swiping her food everywhere. Or maybe it was Max playing "the flute" with his straw and singing, "I play the flute...deet..deet..deet...deet..deet" (from Dora), or maybe it was Cameron responding by playing the "cymbals" with his hands. Or maybe it was Max and Ella seeing who could "fake" laugh the loudest. Or maybe it was Max doing Indian warcries with his hand and mouth. Or maybe it was Ella copying those warcries.

Who knows, most likely, it was all of the above. But all I know is that as I was walking out, people who normally smile at my kids' brown big eyes and curly tops were just scowling at us.