Kids in restaurants...

[pdsavage]

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Now the same could be said for many adults who act just the same way....And the adults know better....

 

[Buff Hooligans]

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It's the ill-behaved kids who grow up into adults who DON'T know any better.

 

[saddina]

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It's the ill-behaved kids who grow up into adults who DON'T know any better.

Hmm, can we jab them with forks then?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Ditto with most of you - i'm fine with well-behaved children, really do not appreciate it when parents do not teach their children manners. i can tolerate a little noise or fussing, but continuous noise or crying or yelling is uncalled for.

Case in point - i was out to lunch with my sisters at Home Town Buffet, a kid friendly restaurant. We were seated next to a father and little girl, and the little girl had her utensils and was pounding on the divider between our tables. We moved. But she kept it up, banging and banging and banging. i could see other people getting annoyed. So i walked up to the table, where the father was eating his food, oblivious to the distress his child was causing. i said politely "Could you please ask your child to be more quiet". He said "I told her but she keeps doing it. What am i supposed to do, beat her?". i just looked at him, for a long time, and said "It's really rude. It's just very rude." and then walked away.

Amazingly, she quieted down after that, and i didn't hear him beat her.

 

[cluckcluck42]

P.S This thread is making me hungry.

 

[DuckLady]

I was out with a friend and her 3 YO.
Another kid at the next table was screaming about something. The 3 YO stood up and looked over the back of the booth and said "Why are you being a baby? Only babies scream"

It was so funny. The kid shut up and we were laughing so hard while trying not to make a sound.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

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It's the ill-behaved kids who grow up into adults who DON'T know any better.

Hmm, can we jab them with forks then?

Yes, and we can say that Terrie Lacy made us do it...

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

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[rodriguezpoultry]

An experience at IHop

We were seated next to children and a single father. The father apparently did NOT have custody during the week or these kids were just that awful. The girl and the boy were reaching across the table, spilling things, SCREAMING. The girl would look at the boy and he would look at his dad and say "Make the girl stop!" The dad ignored him. "Why do you love her more than me?!" This EXACT conversation continued for 30 minutes. The father eventually got kicked by the son for ignoring him. We're talking a 12 year old son kicking his father because his 7 year old sister was looking at him.

The dad got up after telling the kids they were leaving without eating. The dad went to talk to the server about canceling and the son ran over to the dad and started screaming about how he hated him and how he was going to eat and how sorry he was that he kicked him and how sorry he was that his sister made him kick him...The dad continued to say that they were leaving. They didn't.

20 minutes later the kids are screaming again and throwing sugar packets. The dad is staring out the window. The table NEXT to us is staring at him because sugar packets are flying by all of our heads. We get our food and are eating it. The dad is apparently ignoring whatever the heck is happening because his children throw a freakin' fork at us. It lands in my eggs and spills my syrup on my lap. I got up and put our bill on his table then left.

The IHop server laughed until she had to kneel behind the counter.

The man at the other table did the same thing.

 

[Whitewater]

I am totally fine with well-behaved young kids out for a nice meal with their parents, at Red Lobster or Olive Garden or a comparable place. That said, my folks didn't take me to a really nice, grown-up spot until I was about 10 years old and had some civilization put on me! I knew how to eat with proper utensils, and could remember what they said about which fork and where to put your napkin and so on. These occasions were usually because my old-school, formal, traditional grandparents were in town for a visit and my grandmother would have died of shame if her grandkid was a mannerless, ignorant lout.

That said, I believe that young kids shouldn't be taken to non-kid-friendly places not because they can't handle it, but because it's such a boring experience for them. It's setting the kid up to fail. Leave them at home and have a nice adult evening instead!

Oh, and I firmly believe that it's totally possible for very young kids to be quiet, stay in their seats, and not shout, scream, or have a kicking, screaming, arching-the-back fit in a restaurant. My bro and sis in law have two kids, both under 5, one with significant issues (including sensory issues) and my mom-in-law likes to take all her kids and her grandkids out for dinner, a lot, about every 8-10 weeks. So I get to see my nephews (who will be 2 and 5 this fall) behave wonderfully in restaurants. Every time. Do we go to a fabulous steakhouse with a dress code and Lennox china? No. We often go to Olive Garden or somewhere like that. But even the staff compliment my in-laws on how they've put manners on their kids. Usually my in-laws bring crayons and a notebook for the kids to draw on while we wait for the food, or a quiet book, or something.

I am very very NOT OK with shrieking, bored, uncontrollable brats that run in between the server's legs, throw tantrums when they don't get their way, or shriek piercingly for 45 minutes because they are overtired and need to go home to bed. If my sis and bro in-law can make their disabled 3 year old behave in public, then surely it's possible for others to do so as well.

Though in all fairness, instead of trying to 'fix' the situation or telling off the offending parents, however politely, I usually just get up and leave. There are other places to eat. If I'm in a sit-down place and waiting for my bill, I'll leave the table and go to the hostess stand and tell them why I'm leaving, and present my payment to the hostess. I have never once been given any difficulty about it, and usually get an apology from the restaurant staff.

I really vehemently dislike feral children who not only haven't been taught how to behave, but don't care to be polite because they're disrespectful brats. If I see that going on, I will immediately turn and walk out. I might not be able to control how (or if) people raise their children, but I can darn well make sure that I don't have to endure it when I'm supposed to be having a good time.


Whitewater