Waitress Helps Out With Fussy Toddler So The Mom Can Eat In Peace

Keep Reading ↓

Many moms would relate to this: you’re out to dinner and your fussy toddler just refuses to sit still. 

That’s exactly what happened to a  Greensboro, North Carolina Mom, who said that she felt defeated when her toddler started fussing at Olive Garden.

 The Mother is now praising a kind waitress named Nianni Rudder, who stepped in to help so she could enjoy her meal.

Courtney Ruth Pedigo was out to dinner with her Father, stepmother and 18-month-old daughter Harlynn when the toddler started getting restless. 

“Just like any toddler, she didn’t want to be held … it was just a constant battle to try to get her to chill out and I didn’t want to bother anybody trying to eat dinner,” Pedigo said to reporters.

“I just got flustered at one point and went and found Nianni and I said, ‘Can you just box my food up to go?'” Pedigo said.

The waitress denied the mom a to-go box. “No, she’s not bothering anybody. You’re going to go over there, you’re going to enjoy your dinner with your family, and I’m going to be over there in a second,” Rudder said, according to Pedigo.

Pedigo said that she was ready to take her daughter and her food and go eat in the car, but she listened to Rudder and went back to the table. 

A few moments later, the waitress showed up with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce for Harlynn.

“She sat there and was feeding her ice cream and wiping her mouth and her hands — because of course Harlynn was digging into the bowl. She was awesome,” the grateful Mother said about Rudder.

Rudder spoke with the family while she helped out with Harlynn. She’s not a Mother herself, but she has a niece Harlynn’s age, so she knows just how to deal with toddlers. 

The mother shareed the heartwarming story about the kind waitress on Facebook. Pedigo publicly praised Rudder’s strength in a lengthy post. “You never know what people are going through,” Pedigo told CBS News. 

“She’s just such a strong person … that’s why I did a post about her. I wanted to shine a light on Nianni.”

In the post, Pedigo writes “Girl, you will never truly know how appreciative I am for tonight.”

The grateful mother got to eat dinner with her family without worrying about her daughter first. 

“When I say that I appreciate her, it’s so much more than calming me down and just reassuring me and just being there for me,” Pedigo said. “Nianni did this out of the kindness of her heart.”