Eating out with a toddler shouldn't take this much planning — but right now, it does:
- The only high chair is taken.
So your toddler ends up on your lap for the whole meal. You eat one-handed, stop them grabbing everything on the table, and somehow wear half your lunch. - The high chair is filthy.
Sticky straps. Crumbs in every corner. A tray that's been wiped, not properly cleaned. You use it because there's no other option. - A regular chair isn't safe.
They stand up. Slide forward. Reach for plates and tablecloths. One parent spends the entire meal acting like a human seatbelt instead of enjoying dinner. - The travel booster stays at home.
It's bulky, heavy, and takes up half the diaper bag, so after a few outings, you stop bringing it altogether.
It isn't that restaurants don't have enough chairs.
It's that none of them were designed to keep a busy one-year-old safely in place.