Posted on 10/02/2005 7:48:26 AM PDT by nuconvert
Our daughter grew up a "hotel brat". (Hubby works in the business) As a newborn she accompanied him to work when he would be called in for an emergency (Funny, carried her in front harness sling with baby bottles sticking out of his pockets). She dined at 18 months in our neighborhood Mexican restaurant Sunday Brunch. By the way she behaved better than many of the adults around us. I guess it comes from our actually sharing meals at the table with her from a very young age. Over the years she has eaten at some of the finest gourmet restaurants and enjoyed as many as 3 birthday cakes at a time being made for her by various Chefs my husband had worked with. One Chef moved to Ritz Carlton and still insisted on making her a cake for her 16th b'day!
Today she enjoys a true appreciation of fine cuisine and can appreciate the expertise of staff in presenting a unique dining experience.
Our pastor stopped services years ago to tell a young boy to behave. It was his son!
It doesn't just depend on the restaurant, it depends on the child. If you have a child that tends to shriek, then it is probably not a good idea to take them into any dining establishment.
By the time they are 3 or 4 they do need to learn how to sit properly and eat in public. Taking them to a fast food restaurant could teach this, but since most have play areas the kids don't learn to sit properly and eat. Instead they focus only on the play area. It could be a great place to teach self-discipline to your child. Eat your meal properly and then you will be allowed to play....
The laughter died somewhere between Bob's Big Boy in Cleveland and Woogum, Woogum but, thankfully, there was enough left of the cheesy whisk broom to sweep it under the table.
If it has to be explained,...
Our kids are definitely aware of that word. One time at lunch, our son was playing with a toy. Of course it was I specifically told my MIL not to buy because it falls apart and has choking parts, but of course she bought it anyway. We warned him not to do something with it, he did it again and we took it. He started to cry and my husband and I told him to knock it off. My MIL tried to butt in and ask my son (not us) what was wrong (you know, try to be the hero). I snapped to her to not talk to him, he was being punished for not listening. My son promptly stopped crying and apologized. He did NOT get the toy back though. He knows the rules. LOL! I wish my mother in law learned so quickly.
He's resting on his laurels and editing a book on painless methods of responsible birth control, I think.
Last night we went to Applebee's and these two kids behind my husband were turned around in their seats staring at us the entire dinner - not only that they'd yell when they got bored - right in his ear. The parents did nothing. I have a 2 and a 4 year old - they don't act like that - when they do I give them my evil eye and that usually scares them quiet. What's happened to good old common courtesy?
Suffer the little children... Mark 10:13-14
So, your tolerance goes down as the cost goes up, right?
Sadly, I used to be one of these people. A self-centered dolt who would react with impatience and disgust when a baby or toddler would interrupt my precious dinner ambiance.
THEN
We had the most darling baby boy known to the universe.
I deeply regret my behavior and wish I could apologize to every one of those parents.
Its all a matter of the child's temperment and parenting.. while when they are very very young, a month or two.. all they do is sleep... taking them to a restraunt is like taking a piece of luggage... They will likely be sleeping through the meal.
When they get to the age where they actually are eating solid food in a high chair, well that is definately where child's temperment and general parenting skills will dictate the experience.
When our child was young we would take him with us to restraunts... and it never failed that we'd get the "eye" by other diners... who obviously expected the screaming uncontrolled brat out of any child they saw. Of many of these diners would come over and openly admit after seeing our childs behavior in the restraunt compliment us and him for being so well behaved.
Now I admit our child is a very happy go lucky type of kid, and we have always been consistent with him in terms of expectations and discipline, so behavior has never really been an issue. I feel for those who have children that are very strong willed... and if I knew going in my child would not behave we definately would not have gone. Of course on the same token had our child knowingly acted up, he would have been taken outside immediately and dealt with... something he has always know.
Consistency counts.
A few months after our twin girls were born (in Belgium) we were invited out by another couple to one of the best seafood restaurants in Brussels, so we hired one of the teachers at our five year old son's primary school to baby sit him and the girls (the school promoted this as a way for some of the younger teachers to supplement their income).
We'd just finished the main course when a waiter came up and told me we had a call. When I got to the phone it was the baby sitter and all she said was a tremulous "I'm ready to be relieved now". We got back to our apartment and within ten seconds of paying her the babysitter was out the door.
We found our phone book on the dining room table opened to the restaurant section with several pages torn as she had obviously looked for the number in a combination fit of anger and desperation. The woman was trained to deal with small children and our girls sent her into a near nervous breakdown in just a couple hours! Ahhh, such good times.
I have an inkling you'd have cleared that restaurant... had you taken them with you. (Or have been asked to leave) *chuckle*
I am no fan of hands off parenting... children will behave and perform to the level of expectation unto which they are held. If they are not expected to behave appropriately you can bet they won't. However this isn't the childs fault...
Now of course there are special exceptions, some children do have issues that they cannot control their actions.. and nothing can be done to change it. These are usually emotionally or mentally or physically challenged children.
The rest are clearly behaving how they are being allowed to behave.
Its a touchy subject, churches need young families to keep going.. but older members, retirees often have little patience for them...
Does your church have childrens litergy? I know some smaller churches will call the children up for a brief litergy and then send them off to play for the rest of the service while the parents and older children engage in the service. Usually the childrens time is maybe 15 minutes of so into the service... and then they are free to go off into a private area.
Others just don't have anything and its the expectation that parents keep their children in line. Yes, it can be challenge to keep a child on "best behavior" for an entire hour or two.... but children generally can do it, provided it is consistently enforced.
One couple actually had to be told that if they couldn't control their children they would be 'asked to leave.'
i've had to do that. i have removed "families" on more than one occasion because the "parents" were more interested in chatting and drinking than in paying attention to their children. worse situation, i told the parents they needed to control their children or leave. they left without paying, and were back 15 minutes later without the children on the other side of the restaurant and proceeded to get quite drunk before i noticed them. when confronted they disputed the check i had for them. police and protective services were called.
they typical "family" that comes into my restaurant involves "parents" who hand their children money to play the video games at the other side of the restaurant, then smoke and drink, and get a large coupon pizza. they leave large messes across the restaurant, and miniscule tips. i don't like families. there are however the exceptions, who are good, but they are few.
Well, actually it's more the type of restaurant. Some restaurants cater to kids, and some don't.
For example, I've heard people complaining about people taking their kids to McDonald's. In fact, I heard someone complaining about a mom breast feeding their baby at a McDonald's. Well, McDonald's caters to kids. In fact, our local one has tubes for kids to climb in. When my kids were babies, our mom's group would meet there on rainy days.
I know of a few cheaper restaurants that aren't kid friendly. My husband and I used to go to a crepe restaurant that was very reasonable, but it was not kid friendly. It was a very quiet, grown-up restaurant.
However, I don't know tooo many expensive restaurants that are kid friendly.
I figure if the restaurant doesn't have a kid's menu, then it's not a kid friendly restaurant. If there's a kid menu, colors, and balloons, then it probably is a kid friendly restaurant.
"One Chef moved to Ritz Carlton and still insisted on making her a cake for her 16th b'day!
Today she enjoys a true appreciation of fine cuisine and can appreciate the expertise of staff in presenting a unique dining experience."
Good for You - I hope your daughter carries on the tradition.
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