Mum’s Life – Lessons Learnt

Mum’s Life – Lessons Learnt

Text by Daniela Sustac.

Mum’s Life: Lessons Learnt – From Eating Out as a Family

I enjoyed going out to restaurants, cafes, and bars and discovering new eateries in Basel. And then I had a baby who is now a very active toddler. I dread all of those things at the moment. I’ve learnt a few lessons in the past two years when I attempted to take the little one out. They include the following:

Take a change of clothes with you.

I mean for both the baby and yourself. And for grandma, if she happens to be visiting at the time.

Because halfway through enjoying my perfectly grilled turkey breast on a bed of crunchy green salad from Tender&Loins, the baby decided this was the perfect opportunity to have the biggest diaper blowout I had ever experienced in the first five months of her life. In my lap. Cue frantically running down the stairs to the bathroom and using what felt like half of the world’s wet wipes supply. It wasn’t easy to enjoy the rest of the meal afterwards with a foul-smelling sweater on, so we quickly paid our bill and left.

Bring lots of entertainment for your toddler.

After a lovely day of enjoying the Swiss Alps, the promise of a four-course dinner accompanied by live piano music sounded terrific. At the time, our toddler was around 20 months old. We went to the hotel restaurant empty-handed: no colouring, toys, or puzzles. What a giant newbie parent mistake.

The appetiser went okay, as the little one was busy munching on her pommes with ketchup, her favourite. By the time we finished our salads, she wanted nothing more to do with her fries and was ready to explore the rest of the restaurant. One of us had to run after her, while the other tried to enjoy the main course.

By dessert, I was dancing with her to the piano music! Cudos to the piano player; he was a good sport about it. The next evening we came armed with colouring and a puzzle, which, you know, only deterred her for part of the meal. But lesson learned!

Restaurants with play areas are still problematic.

Take the Martkhalle, for example. There’s a slide, a vast play corner for kids, and lots of food and drink choices: very appealing. Let me tell you my realities: those tables around the play area feel like prime real estate, never free during the dinner rush hour on Fridays and Saturdays. One of us still has to hang around to watch the toddler play while the other eats their food alone at the table.La Manifattura in Stücki

My little one thinks the Markthalle is an indoor playground, not a place to go out and eat. And that slide, oh boy. My husband hates it with a passion. He inevitably ends up sliding with our toddler for thirty minutes and is immensely annoyed by the other little kids who are butting in or climbing up the slide.

Take away is your friend.

Since my German is mediocre at best, I am happy that many places now have online ordering and that I don’t have to talk to someone on the phone. I have been grateful for that for the past two years. It has become so much easier to get take out in Basel. Fancy new dumplings place in Gündeli where the toddler would refuse to eat anything: no problem, I could order online. So what if my steamed dumplings were cold by the time I reached home? It still counts as trying out a new restaurant.

We also recently tried the new Italian La Manifattura in Stücki mall. They have yummy portions of pasta and pizzas, which I could enjoy from the comfort of my dining room while the toddler had a scene about only wanting to eat her pasta with ketchup.