There's been a lot of buzz about a restaurant that has a policy which states "No kids allowed under the age of 6". My first reaction was, what's the big deal?
My son was a model baby. He would sit so patiently and quietly in a restaurant high chair, never make a peep and smile at everyone around him. Patrons would pass by our table on their way out and commend me on my sweet child. I would pat myself on the back and consider myself the MOST AWESOME MOM EVER.
Then I had my daughter.
Oh my stars. Let me say, while I love that child to the ends of the Earth...she was quite the different child than my son. She was LOUD. She was FUSSY. She hated to sit in the restaurant high chairs. All of my delusions of Perfect Mom flew out the window. One day, when she was about 18 months old, she took off running around the Back Yard Burger. And I could NOT catch her. I was flustered, embarrassed and yes...angry. I swore then that I would not take them to a restaurant again until she was old enough to sit and behave.
That was a two year restaurant hiatus. When she hit the age of about 3 or 4, she was reasonable and logical. And knew she would get disciplined if she acted inappropriately.
I don't see why people think that everyone loves their precious little snowflakes so much that we all want to hear crying, whining, yelling. What would they do if an adult acted that way in a restaurant?
I don't see anything wrong with a restaurant's decision to cater to adults. Sometimes adults want to have an enjoyable evening out without the stress of children misbehaving.
What about you? Which stance do you take on this issue?
I'm totally cool with a restuarant that listens to it's customers and takes a stand!! I LOVE kids, but I don't enjoy listening to children fuss, rant, and act up in public.... or in the airplane seat behind me!! If I pay for a quiet night out... I want a quiet night out. There is no "entitlement" that says everyone else in the world HAS to listen to your disrespectful child in public! And let's face it... it's just as annoying listening to unskilled parents try to get their children to sit down and be quiet by YELLING at them!!
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think it's a bad thing (even though my child would be banned...lol); however, my question is this...what about those adults who can be just as unruly and loud? Can we ban them, too? Hmm...thinking NO, so it's a can of worms I wouldn't want to open. :) If it's a nice, up-scale restaurant, I'm not sure WHY children would be there in the first place. If it's a family friendly restaurant like Chili's or Olive Garden, then sorry, the children will be there. :)
ReplyDelete