Out to Eat Tokidoki Style

Going out to eat with a child of any age can be a challenge. Whether they are an infant and you are trying to figure out a good place to nurse, a rowdy toddler, or they are a teenager and they insist on bringing all their friends to eat with them, each age brings its own set of joys and challenges. We are by no means experts at eating out with kids, but here are some things we have found helpful along the way. All of the items in this post are Tokidoki themed. Tokidoki means “sometimes” in Japanese. Creative Director, Simone Legno who has always had a deep love of Japan and fascination with world cultures, chose the word because he feels “everyone waits for moments that change one’s destiny, by chance or by meeting a new person.” I love Tokidoki because it brings me back to my childhood. Growing up, whenever my grandma would visit she would bring me a Hello Kitty item. I still have many of the items to this day. The Tokidoki characters remind me Hello Kitty and her friends. It has been fun to see my son love Tokidoki too.

Be Ready to Go When we first started out, we had super cute, over-the-shoulder diaper bags. While we still have and love them, we tend to use our backpack style diaper bag more frequently. We find it helpful to have our hands free when chasing toddler boys! We love the Jujube BRB backpack style diaper bag. All of Jujube bags are machine washable and Teflon-treated to resist stains and the interior is Agion-treated to resist mold and mildew. We love all of the pockets to keep us organized. We also love Itzy Ritzy’s Tokidoki wet bag. We keep our diapers, wipes and a change of clothes. It makes it easier to have all diaper essentials in one place when we need to do changes especially in a restaurant changing table. Then if we ever have a blow out or get messy at a meal, we can put the dirty items into the wet bag. Bring Activities One of the things that we have found most helpful is to have a designated activity bag. This is a bag that we only pull out when we go out to eat, mommy is in a meeting, or we are on a plane. We use the Jujube Minibe because it is big enough to hold lots of activities and snacks, but small enough so our little guy can carry it on his own. We keep it in the car most of the time, that way if we have an impromptu meal date, we can just pull out the bag. We also use Jujube Be set bags to keep each activity separate. We try to pull only one out at a time. This helps us not lose our toys. It also helps little guy to stay occupied for a longer period of time. We put cars in one bag, markers/colored pencils in another, and magnetic blocks in another. We also have some coloring and sticker books in the Minibe. Stay Hydrated and Bring Snacks It may seem odd that we would pack snacks if we are going out to eat. But we have one that is just starting out on solid foods and one that can get hangry if he doesn’t eat. Sometimes service can be slower especially if dining at dinnertime. I like to pack everything in the Jujube Fuel Cell so that way we at least have something to hold us until the food comes. Its insulated so that is one less thing I have to worry about. For the little one I am packing her meal, so I use the Zoli Pod snack containers. They keep each item separate but all in one convenient place as they stack together. Our littlest one is just starting out on a sippy cup. She likes the Zoli Bot. It has a weighted straw so the straw always moves to the liquid regardless of how she is holding it. For everyone else, we make sure we have our water bottles for in between meals. We love Zoli’s Tokipip insulated water bottle. Beverages stay cold for 24 hours and hot for 6 hours. We each have our own color/character so that way we know which bottle is for each person. We have found that some restaurants don’t have cups for kids so it has come in handy to have our own water bottles on hand as we don’t trust our toddlers with glass. Stay Clean and Look Fab Let’s be honest clean and toddlers are usually not found in the same sentence. But we try to do our best especially when we are eating out. We have found it helpful to bring a silicone placemat to put on the table. It can be good for those that are just starting out. It also helps because sometimes when kids are in highchairs or boosters they aren’t quite able to reach their plate. Having them eat off the placemat makes it a little easier. They can eat directly off of it and you don’t have to worry about them breaking the restaurants plates. We love Zoli’s Tokimatties. They are 100% silicone, dishwasher safe and come with washable markers so they can be reused again. The kids enjoy coloring them while they wait for their meal. We also love Jujube’s Be Neat bibs. They have a magnetic closure and come in a variety of prints so you can get one to match your bag. Whether we are grabbing a bagel or eating sushi, we have to make sure we look Tokidoki fabulous. We are obsessed with these moccasins from Itzy Ritzy. Each release they do a different set of characters. Our favorites are Donutella from the first release and Sirena the mermaid unicorn aka unicorno from the second release. I’m secretly hoping they come out with some slippers for mommy too. I do enjoy wearing Itzy Ritzy’s Donutella teething necklace. Its BPA free and helps soothe the little one as she cuts her teeth.