http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/national/09bakery.html?8hpib
You have to register to read, but here are a couple of excerps from that column that made me smile:
- "Part of parenting skills is teaching kids they behave differently in a restaurant than they do on the playground,"
- Kim Cavitt recalled having coffee and a cookie one afternoon with her boisterous 2-year-old when "someone came over and said you just need to keep her quiet or you need to leave"
- "The looks I would get when I went in there made me so nervous that I would try to buy the food as fast as I could and get out," said Laura Brauer, 40, who has stopped visiting A Taste of Heaven with her two children. "I think that the mothers who allow their kids to run around and scream, that's wrong, but kids scream and there is nothing you can do about it. What are we supposed to do, not enjoy ourselves at a cafe?"
6 comments:
"What are we supposed to do, not enjoy ourselves at a cafe?"
As Derek says, um, yes.
The white trash version of this comment is:
"What are we supposed to do, not go gambling? I'm only leaving the babies in the car for 3 hours while I am on the riverboat!"
There are signs in the parking garages in the Indiana riverboats expressing warning drivers not to leave their children in the car...
sad....
However, Derek, this is a two way street. I never want to hear you complaining about kids in Chili's, or Olive Garden, etc. from 5-7 pm. I nominate Laura to come up with a list of acceptable kid-friendly restaurants. And, Derek, no comments about kids in grocery stores.
We won't go into obvious childless places, and you don't whine about kids in public places where there obviously should be children. Deal?
Two way street? Bullshit. If I go to Toys R Us or Chucky Cheese, then yes, I won't say a word or bat an eye at certain kids behavior. But if I'm at any restaurant and whatever time, no matter if its Chili's or Country Line Buffet, I have the right to say something, just like how I have the right to say something to a loud drunk sitting next to me. The next poll question will be, "Would you want one of Eric's kids sitting next to you at dinner or Derek after 10 Johnny Walkers? Hmmm...well with Freddie you will get a lot of crying and with me you will get a lot of F-Bombs. Which is more annoying? And what the hell are you doing at an Olive Garden with the boys? I don't even go there now since that huge kitten=veal story that broke out last year.
And Eric, if your kid can behave, then I wouldn't have a problem with him coming into Starbucks to have a mocha latte with me while listening to Tori Amos or dining with me at The Prime Rib with Chuck. I've seen many kids behave very well at a young age and we were all one of them for the most part. But as Laura said, parents don't parent anymore and that is the problem.
So obviously it's not "universally understood", Laura. See Derek's comments below.
Maybe we should calibrate on what is offending Derek at teh Old Contry Buffet. Non-stop crying for 20 minutes? Yes, of course, unacceptable. Throwing food at strangers? Of course.
But something tells me that if kids talk loud and keep asking "Why, Daddy?" and make zooming noises with their cars at the dining table- that would offend you and give you the right to make evil glares.
There's unacceptable behavior and there is kid behavior, and I'm not sure that a childless adult(s) can distinguish.
As far as a fancy restaurant (like Prime Rib), there's no way in hell I'm taking Warren. He's 2! At 2, you are physically unable to sit still for 90 minutes.
Freddie, at 4 1/2, is close to being ready for that. But that is asking a lot of the attention span.
What were the ages of the kids you've seen at the Prime Rib? I'm serious, I'd like to know.
By the way, when we were in St Louis, we stopped in a Starbucks on a Sunday morning...
and the four of us had a pleasant experience for 20 minutes. Once we sat down, the boys had their yogurt drink and muffins, and we enjoyed our coffees.
No stares in our directon (we think).
A part of that article mentions a sign at one place that says "Please use inside voices". I think that sums it all up for the most part.
Here's a good sign that you're a parent; using this phrase "make zooming noises with their cars at the dining table" with utter sincerity, for which Eric, I applaud you. That is, for using the phrase, not reproducing, which as Derek has correctly pointed out, is quickly cutting a swath of puerile chaos through civilized culture.
"Two way street? Bullshit." And there of course is a good sign you're Derek. So is it really a question of parenting skills gone awry, or a generational transistion that has left modern day mum and dad bereft of any semblance of public propriety.
No, the real problem is something that I picked up on years ago. Children hate Derek. Sure, they first view him with the enchanted reverance due any uncooth ogre, but upon further review, they realize he's a treacherous foe, bent upon their elimination.
And why not, with their flailing, imprecise movements, infantile prodding, veritable rejection of public decorum, aimless and often difficult questions (What's God, where are my sneakers?, can I have more jello?) children present nothing but drama with a sippy cup.
Short of the contestants on America's Top Model, children might be the most ridiculous people on Earth.
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