Kids in restaurants...

[rebelcowboysnb]

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Please come and clean off my computer screen.

Apparently there is a trick to eating those dang giant crawdads... Was not a pretty sight....

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

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Theirs still places in this country free enough for restaurants to still have smoking sections? 10 years ago you could smoke in McDonalds Now ya cant even smoke in your on car.....

 

[squeakyballs]

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Theirs still places in this country free enough for restaurants to still have smoking sections? 10 years ago you could smoke in McDonalds Now ya cant even smoke in your on car.....

I was thinking the same thing, figured he must be somewhere in GA

 

[baltimoreharps]

I can say that I could take my kiddos into any type of restaurant and they would be well mannered, polite and appropriate and they know full well if they don't act right, thay are going to get pulled out at the first sign of trouble!
I don't eat that much and I WILL sit with them in the car and give a talk about good table manners, proper voice levels, and that if they've forgotten to say "yes ma'am, or no, sir" in the first few million times we've talked about it, well, we'll just have another lesson in the car!
I barely eat, so I'm not missing out, but they are!

I haven't had to pull them out once, whether it was a McDonald's or a 4 star restaurant yet. Momma doesn't play with manners and neither does Dad.

They all grew up with this and the oldest is 18 and has Asperger's autism, has grown up both eating and working in the restaurant business from high to low end, and the other two know from visiting restaurants that your voice level should be down, tell the server what you would like for your meal, say "yes, Ma'am" or "Yes, Sir" to waitstaff no matter where you are ordering from and respect those that are older than you are, period.

My kiddos are now 9, 11 and 18 and I have no problems taking them to any restaurant that we would go to. Our menu is going to expand in the next year so it should be interesting how they all handle a very high end place as a family.

DD and I went to the Russian Tea Room on our family vacation in NYC and she at 8 did just fine with the High Tea. We had a really great time and she was such a little lady. I was really proud of her.

As always, just my OP.

 

[lovesduckies]

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Theirs still places in this country free enough for restaurants to still have smoking sections? 10 years ago you could smoke in McDonalds Now ya cant even smoke in your on car.....

TRUE THAT! i seriously hide my cig if i see a cop. chances are he's going to watch me flick my ash out the window and pull me over and there goes my car because i am unemployed and can't afford car ins.

 

[Mattemma]

I get nervous when I see a family coming near me. I have polite kids of my own that get treated to going out once every few months. Kids yelling,running,knocking into me/my kids.Little ones screaming and throwing food. I know everyone wants that little bit of time out,but I get really sad when our time is ruined by others.

I pick places to sit that will try and minimize having issues with others.My next step is getting up and MOVING to another table when all hell breaks loose.I am finding that hard to do,so usually we just eat fast and leave.

If my kids acted up in any way I would not take them out,but thankfully I have not ever had issues with them.

 

[ebwy]

I always behaved when we were out. We didn't eat out often (hardly ever) but I knew how to behave no matter where we were. Basic manners go a long way.

My mother tells me that when I was about 4 or 5 we were in a cafe and there were some other children in there running riot. I asked in a slightly loud voice why their parents hadn't taught them how to behave! Everyone except that family found that amusing.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

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To each their own. As a kid I'd shrug off a spanking, but a timeout was TORTURE for me. My son is much the same way.

I use a quick swat on the rear if needed to get his attention, and then a timeout/preventing him from doing something fun. It works. So does putting the toy he's using in his misbehavior somewhere he can't reach it.

Some people decry the 'counting'. I use it when his behavior is just starting to cross the line. Saying 'one' generally stops him in his tracks, on rare occasions I have to get to 'two'.

Kids are, strangely enough, people. And thus are all different.

Worst punishment for my son? Not being allowed to go into the chicken pen to scratch dirt with his hens.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

I have to giggle at the ones saying they have had to move because of children, I have had to move because of "adults"

We were at Red Lobster a few years ago and yes our daughter was with us she was about 4 or 5 years old, she is one of the rare children who seem to be born with manners, she is the reason we have a 2nd child (she tricked us lol)

Anyway there was a table behind us full of men, you could tell they were on a business type outing, there was so much cursing, and making comments about the wait staff that I couldnt take it, my DH told them that they were crude, and that those women they were talking about could be their daughters and granddaughters, we got up and moved. Our daughter looked at us and said in a voice that was angelic yet loud enough to be heard, Mommy, those men are rude.

I about died trying to keep from having the smuggest of smug looks on my face. The manager apologized and I told him HE didnt need to apologize those so called men did!

We left with out paying for our food (manager wouldnt give us the bill) but we tipped the waitress about what the meal would of cost!

 

[gudrin]

We recently went out for breakfast after church with some friends while our kids were in Sunday School. About the time that Sunday School was over, we sent two of the dads back to the church to get all the kids (three families, five kids and two babies that came with us from the beginning). Somehow they found enough seats for everyone to be belted in safely. When my daughter got to the restaurant, she sat down right next to me, and I went and got her some food (it was a breakfast buffet place). She sat and she ate. Her friend had the same thing happen with his mom. Only, he didn't eat. Instead he was up and running around our rather large table and was trying to get my daughter to come with him. I told him, "No, she will sit here. When we are at a restaurant, she sits and eats and then waits for us to get done." His mom gave me a look, but then tried to get him to stop running around after that. We had the kids' daycare provider sitting at the table too, and she complimented me on how well my daughter sat. She said that kids running in a restaurant makes her very nervous, what with all the hot coffee and other food and patrons around. My friend gave another look at that.

The thing is, I know my friend's son can be good just like my daughter was. I've seen it. It was only because his parents were around that he wasn't. He knows when I watch him that he can't get away with nearly as much.


Oh, and for time outs: We use them in our house, but more as a chance for my daughter to calm down when she's throwing a fit. Usually there is some other discipline involved, like a toy being taken away or helping to clean up a mess. The time out is just so she can have a chance to get herself under control. Sometimes it's not easy for little ones to do that. And we talk about what happened as well. A spanking really doesn't do well with her. We also do the counting, as someone else has mentioned. Usually we don't even get to two.