We were on the first leg of our summer road trip to Idaho via the Wallowa’s and stopped for our traditional breakfast at Cousins in The Dalles, about a two-hour drive from our home in Portland.

I had announced to the kids before we left, that this would be an electronic-free vacation.

I wanted bonding time, connecting time, time together. Opportunities to look out the window and take in the beauty and just slow down.

And opportunities talk to one another sans a screen barging into our lives, to focus on who is right here with us, those present. Our family. Siblings. Parents. Kids.

When we parked our van, I reminded the kids to keep their phones in their pockets and off altogether while we ate and they nodded in agreement as tweens and teens do.

Cousins is a restaurant that prides itself on home-style cooking and a down-to-earth atmosphere. A large John Deere in the middle of the eatery speaks volumes.

After ordering our biscuits and gravy and large pancakes, we talked about our upcoming vacation, things the kids wanted to do, what the new school year ahead was going to look like for them. Anything that came to mind. Gus asked questions about the John Deere tractor, the twins  talked about wanting to rent jet skis, there was conversation about how hot it was and how much they were looking forward to seeing their cousins in Idaho. I love easy-going conversations around a meal, especially with cell phones turned off.

Yet, I noticed as I looked around that other families and couples were on their cell phones while we gathered for words and conversations and a meal. Not sure if it is because we made such a point of not being on our phone, but this reality really stood out to me as it has a lot the past couple of years.

There were a couple of times that my phone would make a noise that indicated I had a message and I’d sneak a look and my kids would give me a bad time, and I’d remind them I am only making sure it is not  their sister — my daughter — who lives in Germany or their older brother, who were not with us,  but the messages were not from either of them so I did not reply. I try to role model what I want them to do in a restaurant, yet we do have to have grace in these matters.

Yes, there is cell phone restaurant etiquette we need to teach our kids. And not talking or texting during a meal is one of those items on the etiquette list.

After our meals arrived and we devoured our home-style breakfast, and we were getting ready to leave, a couple sitting by the window made eye contact with us, smiling.

“Where are you all from?” the gentleman asked, and we told him the Portland, Oregon area.

“Well, we just wanted you to know that we noticed that your kids were not on their cell phones at all during your meal and we admire that,” they told us.

I shared with them that we were trying to make this an electronic-technology-free vacation and that we really appreciate them noticing.

Then the couple went on to say that they eat out a lot and they rarely see folks sans their phones or electronics.

“But we raised our kids to not be addicted to their electronics, just as you are doing. Good for you.”

Okay, my kids now were hearing the conversation and I’m smiling feeling validated, not that I need to be, but it was nice to hear this from someone.

“You have good parents,” the couple then said about me and my husband to our three boys.

Okay, now they totally made my day. . . .

Parents, we can do this. Four lessons learned from that time in Cousins restaurant:

1.Teach etiquette when it comes to electronics in public with other people.

2. Have a time when electronics are off during meals.

3. Have grace regarding cell phone / texting use during a meal because there are those exceptions, when the cell phone truly is being used for the emergency situation.

4. Tell someone when he or she are doing something that you like.

And, in the end, our hope is that our kids will, on their own, have etiquette and good manners when it comes to cell phone use in restaurants.