Year 1, Day 31

Organic foods, safe cleaning sprays, no additives, clean air . . . all the things we do to keep our kids healthy and safe. Today, we threw caution to the wind and took Jackson to Friendly's to eat greasy french fries and fried chicken fingers. He loved it.

I would have loved it to, but I feel like it was a lot less classy than I had remembered it to be. I use to fantasize about the hamburgers, salty fries, and the chocolate "Friend-Z" with peanut butter cups that I would order to go. But this time, everything felt sticky, snotty kids ran around everywhere, and the meal of grade D meat and cardboard fries were a C- at best. Don't get me wrong, Jack loved the whole experience of eating out. He especially enjoyed the red decoder glasses that came with the crayons he ate while he waited. He flashed his smile and made friends with the gang of children that sat around us throwing food in every direction. The balloons floating above the host table caught his eye for a solid five minutes. Balloons, children running rampant, and icecream - I feel like I'm describing the Big E . . .

I'm disappointed in Friendly's because they have a menu the size of the Cheesecake Factory. When you are good at hamburgers, icecream, and shakes, and are known for hamburgers, icecream and shakes, - why add clam strips, tuna boats, sirloin tips, pot pies, and everything else under the sun to the menu? A chicken fingers appetizer did not exist on the menu, but I could order a lobster roll. Explain that . . .

The thing I learned today: Friendly's is a children's restaurant. It is also a place for 65 and older to get their senior breakfasts after church or on a weekday for a great price. It is not meant to be a classy place, so just suck it up and stop complaining about it's rapid decline as a New England icon. Jackson was just happy to have a french fry and not another organic veggie staring at him in the face.