{"id":9385,"date":"2006-07-18T07:04:47","date_gmt":"2006-07-18T14:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/07\/18\/kids-in-restaurants.html"},"modified":"2006-07-18T07:04:47","modified_gmt":"2006-07-18T14:04:47","slug":"kids_in_restaur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/18\/kids_in_restaur.html","title":{"rendered":"Kids in restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Waiter discusses demon-children in restaurants<\/a> — and the need for moderation from everyone in the kids-in-restaurants debate.<\/p>\n

\n

And I don\u2019t subscribe to the prissy \u201cleave your kids at home\u201d school of restaurateurship. Children are part of life and should be included in the celebrations of life. There are people who, for what ever reason, don\u2019t like to share the same air as children. They think most public spaces should be a kid free zone. That\u2019s nuts. We were all children once. Someone had to put up with us while we crapped in our pants. So, even if you don\u2019t have kids, you should have some tolerance for those of other people.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about the kiddie policies of Uber restaurants like Per Se. If I\u2019m shelling out $500 a person I don\u2019t want kids in dirty diapers sitting next to me either! There are obviously places where children should not be taken. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be real. Parents have to follow some simple rules when taking children to an eatery nicer than McDonald\u2019s. Kid haters need to loosen up a little. Half the problems with children in restaurants would be avoided if the child bound and childless put themselves in each other\u2019s shoes. Compassion and consideration both go a long way. <\/p>\n

But if your child turns into Satan\u2019s howling minion you have to take them outside! There\u2019s no excuse for letting children froth at the mouth twenty minutes. It doesn\u2019t make the child look bad \u2013 it makes the parent look bad. Drag them outside and perform whatever exorcism your religion or pediatrician say works best. We\u2019ll keep your food warm.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’m pleased that we’ve been bringing Katherine to restaurants for years.  While she remains a six-year-old, she’s learned the rules, she knows what we expect, and we’re able to keep her under decent-enough control to (I hope) not bother the other diners.  A reminder here and there, a distraction, a veiled threat — it’s, generally speaking, enough. <\/p>\n

And if she gets out of control, I’m more than willing to take her out of the place right then and there.  My dread of bothering other people tends to bubble (in a paranoid fashion) pretty high in such circumstances.  <\/p>\n

Do yourself a favor, parents:  take your kids out (and to someplace other than McDonalds).  You’re going to have to sooner or later, and the sooner they learn the rules, the better they’ll be later.  That having been said, be aware of something beyond what’s slopped on your plate, and if the kid’s becoming a pest, intervene — firmly, quickly, and non-disruptively (screaming at the kid to shut up is sort of missing the point).  If that means leaving before you’re done eating, that’s one of
\nthe lesser costs of being a parent.  <\/p>\n

Most restaurants, I find, welcome well-behave kids — they see enough of the alternative to appreciate them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-drink","category-parenting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33434,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/30\/is-it-possible-to-go-to-a-restaurant-with-kids.html","url_meta":{"origin":9385,"position":0},"title":"Is it possible to go to a restaurant with kids?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 30-Apr-13 6:56pm","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":51464,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/15\/bygone-restaurants.html","url_meta":{"origin":9385,"position":1},"title":"Bygone Restaurants","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 15-Jun-15 2:07pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's funny how places sometimes disappear quietly and unnoticed (unless it's a place you visited all the time, or that had a prominent location). Of all of these, the one I have the fondest memory of is Howard Johnson's. At one point, it was our go-to restaurant when out on\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":2598,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/05\/30\/kids_parents_an.html","url_meta":{"origin":9385,"position":2},"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":5987,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/06\/11\/your_societal_o.html","url_meta":{"origin":9385,"position":3},"title":"Your societal observation of the day","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 11-Jun-04 9:43am","format":false,"excerpt":"Picnic lunches in the park have given way to fast food restaurants with a \"Play Place.\" No, really. Katherine loves the Play Place jungle gyms\/habitrails. So we went there for...","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":45599,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/30\/keep-the-shit-off-the-table-please.html","url_meta":{"origin":9385,"position":4},"title":"Keep the shit off the table, please","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 30-Sep-14 2:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Y'know, once upon a time, no restaurants had changing tables in the bathrooms, and I can recall having to deal with that situation a few times with my own kid back in the day. What do you do? Cope (and save the poo flinging for the follow-up letter). Chad &\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":13458,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/12\/08\/the_schadenfreudiest_vict.html","url_meta":{"origin":9385,"position":5},"title":"The Schadenfreudiest victims of the financial collapse","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 8-Dec-08 3:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"What happened to all those high-flying investment bankers once their companies, jobs, and stock portfolios went south? A truly touching tale ... 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