Posted on 10/02/2005 7:48:26 AM PDT by nuconvert
Morning Leni. Nothing worse than walking into a restaurant or theater and hearing or smelling a squalling baby! Matthew was one of those babies that was born flirting so I never had to worry about his upsetting others.
And on another subject, were we supposed to set the clocks back an hour today?
The problem isn't children in restaurants (or elsewhere in public) the problem is parents who are bringing up rotten kids who don't teach them manners.
For example I was out furniture shopping and saw two 3-4 year olds jumping up and down with their shoes on a $2000 couch while an indulgent Grandmother looked on and the parents pretended not to notice.
That's not the furniture store's fault - that's the parents.
And its the same in restaurants. I've got friends with young children who are delight to have eat with us.
Thank you, being the parent of a 4 month old, this was especially funny.
Now, to a normal, sane person, this statement is absurd. It's like saying: "Let's take a moose to the opera!"
I once called the proprietor of The Plumed Horse, in Saratoga, CA, one of the fanciest restauraants in the area, to arrange to take my nine-month-old daughter to our annual fete there. The proprietor asked me if she would be a problem. I said no. He informed me he did not have a high chair so we brought one. We reserved an early table so that, if we had to leave early, they could get full use of it later. They set us up at a table in a far corner.
It was a magical evening.
NattieShea sat quietly through the entire three-hour meal. She would smile charmingly when people spoke to her, and didn't complain when the server brought her cut vegetables she couldn't eat. She made no mess, didn't fuss, and was in every way delightful.
Although some customers recoiled at the sight of her when they came in, by the end of the meal, they were coming up to us to thank us for bringing her. She was that delightful.
It's possible.
Seems like the minister should do something now while the church is small to set the stage for later when the church grows. If he allows anarchy to reign now, it will be harder to control later.
Of course, it's possible that it won't grow because people will be too irritated with the noise to make it their church home.
I don't think you're being selfish. There is a time for children to be quiet. And the parents who have such little consideration for others should be asked to take their children out of the service until they can behave. If that makes them leave, then so be it.
"My question is, am I being too selfish in thinking I should find another church?"
That hurts the church as much as them leaving - put an anonymous note on their windshield.
I wonder what he would have to say about babies and church services.
I'm lucky I know what date it is let alone the time. I get the correct date by checking latest comments on FR when I get all befuddled, LOL.
Leni
I know what to expect when new parents bring children to a rest. and I try to help
It's the nice thing to do
I think it is okay to take kids to family restaurants (Chili's, Black Eyed Peas, etc). If you go to a restaurant like that, then you should be prepared to hear children.
Now, I would be upset to go to fancy, very expensive restaurant and hear a kid crying. I think that is inappropriate.
Funny how people with kids are eating out more and smokers are eating in more.
My kids were not good at restaurants when they were little. My daughters had speech problems. Crying, grunting, and hitting was one of my daughters main form of communication until she was 5 1/2.
We did lots of take out until they were old enough to behave.
Now,that our kids are 8,8, and 11 they are fun to take out. Actually, as soon as my one daughter started talking, going out got easier.
In fact, my daughters are the most fun to take out because they are very adventurous eaters. About 2 years ago, we took them all to their first Chinese restaurant and got one of the big family meals with lots of different options. My girls tried everything: gross looking food, vegetable dishes, hot and sour soup. It was a blast.
My girls also now love watching the food channel. Their favorite show is Iron Chef America, and they always want to try the food on that show.
I think I'm going to have to take some gourmet cooking classes with them.
I don't know what is going on with those kids, but sometimes looks can be deceiving.
My daughter has brain damage. She looks completely normal, and in fact she is very pretty. Unfortunately, people expect her to act normal, and she is not. It was really hard when she was younger. She didn't talk until she was 5 1/2, and she threw lots of temper tantrums.
She wouldn't go into Sunday School because it was waaaaay too stimulating. Plus the Sunday School teachers weren't trained at handling a special needs kid.
The only way I could go to church was to have her and her twin sister with me. My husband didn't go to church, and this was quite a challenge for me.
At the one church I went to instead of helping me, people
would stare. I didn't go to church much. Finally, I went to a neighbor's small church. My girls were friends with our neighbor's daughter, and they went into Sunday School with her and a small group of kids.
At 8, I still have some issues with my daughters. They don't go into Sunday School until after our worship service, and my daughters hate the music. I think the music is tooo loud for them. (Modern Christian music)
So, if I were you I would offer to personally watch their kids say once a month so that those parents get a break. Maybe you could get several other volunteers to watch these kids. Sometimes wild kids don't need to be in a Sunday School class, but need more one-on-one supervision.
Help the parents. It doesn't help to drive those parents away from the church. The parents and the kids probably need it.
On Sunday, there was a kid talking at our church. He was sitting next to the child of one our music leaders who was on stage.
I talked to our music leader and found out the kid was a neighbor whose parents do not go to church. The kid has troubles, and our music leader thinks going to church is good for the kid. I agree.
Depends on the restaurant. If it's a family restaurant I totally agree. However, anyone who would consider bringing a shrieking infant to a fine-dining establishment needs their heads examined.
And I won't even go (too far) into the idiots who bring their toddlers to restaurants and then let them run all over the damned place.
I wonder what the tipping ratio is within these two groups? :)
I hear that instead of complaing about smoky clothes the wait staff is getting sick from colds and flus much more often.
You knew what to do when and if they misbehaved. Our daughter's 2 teens were born in Seattle and her friends were outraged that she dare to say that N word. You know the one I mean. NO. Our 2 daughters were very well behaved too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.