to ask you to teach me about parenting a toddler?

Absolutely, I think you’re right there. If mealtimes are screen free you’ll get better conversation, better eating and better relationships.
It sounds like he’s a lucky tot getting plenty of quality attention from you! Mine are teens now and I did enjoy them when they were little- favourite things were getting the paints out and rolling a bit bit of lining wallpaper down the garden, or in the bathroom. I still have the footprints, bum prints and the ‘tea tray, paint and a marble’ experiment!
Screens can be a real problem- my 16 year old has just got her first smartphone and has morphed into a right pain in the bottom!

We started watching way too much telly in lockdown. Ended up having a strict routine we've kept to - ten mins in morning if DC dressed, short bit after lunch, ten mins before dinner. Make a routine and stick to it then they won't nag for it all the time.

With mine, we'd need to get out at least once a day, roughly 9ish, to let off energy. This improved behaviour. Watch out for being tired or hungry and get back in good time for nap. Basically routine, routine.

Not all kids like all things. But they can't concentrate on anything that long. Toy box rotation can work so they have novelty of toys coming out. Let them 'help' you in house. Wash veg, wipe windows etc. get cardboard boxes and colour them, make them rockets or houses or garages. Get something to paint outside - we spent about a month painting and repainting a pumpkin once.

Divide your day into a schedule. Have something up your sleeve like a sticker book for if you're desperate. Pinterest is full of ideas (some silly, some not) for keeping kids busy.

Water is always your friend - a bath in the daytime, a bowl of water outside, a spray bottle, jumping in puddles, playing with ice cubes etc.

Definitely knock the tv on at meal times on the head if you can. It will give him an opportunity to learn more about the food he is eating and focus on that instead of being distracted by tv. It will probably be rough for a little while as he adjusts though, and it will help you set expectations for what meal times entail. I don’t allow screen time or toys at mealtimes, firstly because I want DD focussed on her food and to minimise potential for choking via distraction, secondly to set expectations of what we do at meal times, I chat a lot of rubbish to her, and talk to her about her food, as that’s what we do when we are out and about. I want meal times when she is older to be that occasion where we all sit around a table and talk about our day, so I’m starting her off as early as possible (she is 18m)

We didn't do tv dinners and devices didn't go out. Restaurants provided colouring stuff, so we did that with her and chatted - sometimes to her, sometimes around her. She was very good at entertaining herself so that helped.

My daughter used to get up around 6'630 and the first thing she always wanted was a book...

Read a book. Bathe her, have a shower, get dressed, have breakfast, wash up and the time is gone.

Would he do a sticker book/colouring book ??
You probably just need to be firm but set the example yourself too by not going on your phone etc in the cafe x

It is difficult to entertain them at this age so don't feel bad about some screen time, just work to reduce it.
Mine isn't a lover of tv naturally so we don't have this problem. He does go days sometimes without any tv but at times I wish he'd watch some so I could get some jobs done! Hes very full on and very active. (2 and a half)
When we get up in the morning and I'm making his breakfast he usually goes and plays , usually role play stuff like doctors or he's got a toy kitchen and makes a picnic with his teddies.
We go out daily and if it's local I walk there. Generally a stay and play twice a week in term time which is 915-11.15 and by the time we are home it's lunch time.
Afternoons I find harder and generally we go to the park for the second time or do some crafts /sticker books/reading.
On the days where I am drained I lie on his bed and he plays /turns his bedroom upside down😅.
We are potty training this week so we've been all week and omg it's been hard and he's been miserable. We did venture out this afternoon which was bliss.
I wouldn't bother with restaurants at this age personally because they can't sit still for long enough. We go to cafes and lunches that will be quick (sandwiches type thing)! And he takes his colouring book and sticker book with him and that will buy us about half an hour. He loves a babychinno too which buys us some more time 🤣. I am with him 5 days a week , 3 in the week on my own and 2 days at weekend with my partner. It's so much easier when there's both of us!
sounds like your little one is doing great xxx

Before nursery we use the TV if necessary - we have a very tight turnaround in the mornings, all out between 7 and 7.50am. Ideally, she'd only wake in time to have breakfast and get dressed but if she wakes earlier, then it's TV!

On my two days off with her, I try to avoid it until about 5pm when she watches a couple of programmes on cbeebies while I cook. Sometimes she helps me in her learning tower but sometimes she's too tired by then and TV is easier. I cope with the days by being out of the house as much as possible! We do a toddler dance class one day and rhyme time at the library the other day. Walk to places as much as possible as that takes ages! Then park trips, errands, feeding the ducks, nap, playing with toys, reading fills up the rest.

Rainy days are the worst - I'm a better parent in good weather for sure! Can while away hours with park, walk, picnic but in the rain the day really drags, we definitely watch more TV in winter! Things my DD (also 2) will focus on for a while now are playdoh and sticker books. I'm planning to try to do more cooking with her (simple baking, pizza toppings, etc) over the winter and I recently bought a tuff tray. Just need to find the motivation to actually set up some activities in it!

Fill a sink full of water and put a little step up to it he can stand on, and put some random plastic toys or cars in the water with some bubbles.

Let him chop up a banana with a blunt kids knife and put it in a jug, add milk and you blend it up and make a smoothie.

Big roll of blank paper (e.g. leftover wall paper or wrapping paper) - spread out on floor and give him chalk / charcoal / pens etc and let him go mad with it.

Mix flour with water to make a simple dough he can play with.

Set up a scene of things for him to discover in the morning, the night before. e.g. a load of plastic dinosaurs or a train set.

Sitting on floor and rolling a ball to each other. My DD loved it if you both sit at each end of a yoga mat and roll it while trying to stop it from going off the sides of the mat.

Get magna doodle - one of the most used toys in our house.

Simple things like make a snack and he helps butter the toast.

Get some compost and plant a few herbs in pots, him doing the spooning of the compost into the pots and the watering.

In my house we get up, do my toddler a drink, sit down with them and play with their toys until breakfast time - it’s as simple as that, nothing fancy.

If you want to reduce the screen time you’ll need to be firm ‘2 blueys’ or whatever and the turn it off and stay firm even if he tantrums. You don’t really have to say or do much, just let him be frustrated and stay nearby, he’ll work through it eventually.

We always did an outing in the morning on my days with the kids, so park/a class/swimming/whatever then home for lunch, if no nap, then a bit of tv and then playing at home. An hour in the garden, some time playing inside alone/with you, reading books - if you say no tv then mean it! Have some activities you can whip out - kinetic sand, playdough - that aren’t available all the time.

If the afternoon was dragging we’d usually do a walk to the shop for dinner bits or just out for a bit. I’m not very good at staying home!

Edit: what do we do in the mornings?

Breakfast, get dressed with telly on, then turn it off and he plays. Can he access his cars and things on his own? You don’t have to entertain him, if he can get to his toys he can play!

I'm not sure I'm seeing the issue - you say he's happy to play on his own, so let him play? And that you play with him and read books too, and all the stuff you do on the weekends.

Screen wise we have TV only on the weekend and usually it's a film in the afternoon. So the rest of the time DD either plays on her own, 'reads' or will 'helps' me with whatever I'm doing. Or we'll scoot to the playground or something.

Re. Restaurants, bring books/colouring and tell him the tablet is broken

The situation you currently have doesn't sound that bad to me.

Decide how much TV time you’re happy with and stick to it. At the moment you don’t seem to know what it you want to happen.

Between the ages of 2 to 3 we avoided anything other than sort cafe trips.