{"id":33434,"date":"2013-04-30T18:56:17","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T00:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/30\/is-it-possible-to-go-to-a-restaurant-with-kids.html"},"modified":"2013-05-01T07:26:47","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T13:26:47","slug":"is-it-possible-to-go-to-a-restaurant-with-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/30\/is-it-possible-to-go-to-a-restaurant-with-kids.html","title":{"rendered":"Is it possible to go to a restaurant with kids?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Yes. For most kids, yes.<\/p>\n

The main problem with this particular article is that it assumes<\/i> kids are going to have a melt-down and pitch a tantrum at a restaurant.<\/p>\n

But good behavior when out of the house is something kids can (and should) be trained in,<\/i> whether it's restaurants, movies, or whatever. And that training can (and should) take place from an early age. \u00a0A lot of melt-down behavior happens, from what I see, because kids discover it works.<\/i>\u00a0Yes, I know that all kids are different. And certainly there are some with medical \/ profound behavioral conditions that up the ante. But I think those are the exception rather than the rule, and that it is possible to train good behavior so that you don't feel like you're faced with just eating at home, just going to (gag) Chuck E. Cheese, or dealing with a biological jar of nitro-glycerine.<\/p>\n

(I would extend this idea to the "what kids will eat" idea, too. I think parents today make a lot of assumptions about kids' palates, and assume that only cheesy mac and chicken nuggets will do. While tastes can vary, even week to week, a broader menu selection is also something that can be trained through exposure — at home, for starters.)<\/p>\n

Lastly, parents need to be ready and willing to exit, stage left, with the young'un if a melt-down does actually happen. But that doesn't mean the whole expedition has to go home. \u00a0I spent (as did Margie) a few prolonged periods outside the movie theater \/ restaurant \/ store with a yowling Katherine. \u00a0We were not happy when it happened, but we also didn't let it signal the end of everyone's night out (or even assume that we weren't going to be able to go back in once the sound effects quieted down).<\/p>\n

There are some good pieces of advice in the article — dining early, not dawdling, making sure you have some snacks and distractions, etc. But assuming that 3-year-olds, or 6-year-olds, cannot be taken to a restaurant without something awful happening.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

How To Dine Out with Small Children (Without Losing Your Mind)<\/a>
\n Your blissfully child-free friends looked upon you with pity when you told them that you were expecting. \u201cI guess you won\u2019t be going out to dinner anymore, huh,\u201d was a popular phrase that was echoed o…\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes. For most kids, yes. The main problem with this particular article is that it assumes kids are going to have a melt-down and pitch a tantrum at a restaurant. But good behavior when out of the house is something kids can (and should) be trained in, whether it's restaurants, movies, or whatever. And that … Continue reading “Is it possible to go to a restaurant with kids?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,23,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-parenting","category-food-drink-restaurants"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2598,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/05\/30\/kids_parents_an.html","url_meta":{"origin":33434,"position":0},"title":"Kids, Parents and Restaurants","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 30-May-02 9:31am","format":false,"excerpt":"Anne has a very well-written post on parents and their responsibilities over their kids while dining out (and while out in public in general). Hear-hear. We've very intentionally tried to...","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/parenting"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9385,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/18\/kids_in_restaur.html","url_meta":{"origin":33434,"position":1},"title":"Kids in restaurants","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 18-Jul-06 7:04am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Waiter discusses demon-children in restaurants -- and the need for moderation from everyone in the kids-in-restaurants debate. And I don\u2019t subscribe to the prissy \u201cleave your kids at home\u201d...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131373,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/27\/judging-neglectful-parents.html","url_meta":{"origin":33434,"position":2},"title":"Judging "Neglectful" Parents","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 27-Aug-16 3:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Some interesting research described here that concludes that a lot of increased societal concern over kids being left alone isn't driven by actual risk, but by increased moral judgment on parental behavior. The more that parental behavior is seen as neglectful, the greater the danger the children being seen as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41159,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/21\/killing-your-kids-for-god.html","url_meta":{"origin":33434,"position":3},"title":"Killing your kids for God","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Feb-14 10:04am","format":false,"excerpt":"As a person of faith, I still find the behavior of these parents appalling. Of course, I find the behavior of Abraham in the \"Sacrifice of Isaac\" tale to be appalling, too.\u00a0One can argue with some justification the dangers of a slippery slope here -- legal and court mandates regarding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21555,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/12\/unblogged-bits-tue-12-jul-11-2331.html","url_meta":{"origin":33434,"position":4},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Tue. 12-Jul-11 2331)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 12-Jul-11 11:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... How To Turn Your Netbook Into a Chromebook with Chromium OS - Well, there's an interesting idea. And if I had a week free to pursue it ... Instant Oatmeal Tea Party Group Believes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Avatar \/ Airbender \/ Korra"","block_context":{"text":"Avatar \/ Airbender \/ Korra","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/avatarairbenderkorra"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5188,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/10\/18\/hey_you_kids_ge.html","url_meta":{"origin":33434,"position":5},"title":"Hey, you kids! Get off my … street!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 18-Oct-03 10:04am","format":false,"excerpt":"A 68-year-old couple on a cul-de-sac in baby-booming Highlands Ranch has been dealt a setback in their campaign to keep kids from playing in the cul-de-sac. It seems that it's...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33448,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33434\/revisions\/33448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}