JayKay Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Lately I've seen a lot of articles that complain about kids who behave badly in restaurants while parents do nothing about it. Did you hear about the guy with the Manhattan (I think) coffee shop? He posted a sign that said, "All children must use their indoor voices while visiting (name of coffee shop)" Apparently, some of the parents were FURIOUS that he had that sign up! They complained that small children naturally shriek and talk loudly and that it was too much to ask for their children to be kept quiet. Other people applauded the sign; they agreed that for too long children had been allowed to run wild, slam on the display case, scream and cry while the mothers sat and ignored them. What do you guys think? Should restaurants be allowed to demand 'good' behavior from children? Link to post Share on other sites
a4a Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 What do you guys think? Should restaurants be allowed to demand 'good' behavior from children? Yes and unruly adults as well Link to post Share on other sites
littlekitty Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Absolutely. Of course, you can't help a crying baby, it's not something as a parent you can control. But over a certain age, yes children should of course be on their 'best behavior' when in a social situation where their behavior effects others enjoyment. However, on another note; if you visit a resturant that is known to be child friendly, then you should expect children and some noise.... Link to post Share on other sites
lindya Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 What do you guys think? Should restaurants be allowed to demand 'good' behavior from children? Restaurants might think about employing my father as a "stealth disciplinarian". Posing as an elderly, cantankerous customer, he's always willing to berate badly behaved children and their parents about this sort of thing. His rationale, ironically, is that they disrupt the ambience of the restaurant. To his credit, however, he does deliver his angry lecture in a low but insistent grumble rather than at a full force yell. For a small extra charge, he will add at the end of his lecture "The staff here can't say anything about your little s***'s behaviour...but I bloody well can!" He may also, at this point, inadvertently spray the unruly family with a fine mist of rage-induced spittle. He's done it before, with varying responses from restaurants staff and managers. Not everyone wants an angry old man ranting at their customers, but some establishments welcome that sort of thing. One of his better moments involved a discreetly gifted bottle of complimentary champagne, together with a hefty discount off the bill and a "Good work, sir!" wink from the maitre d'. Link to post Share on other sites
a4a Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Restaurants might think about employing my father as a "stealth disciplinarian". Posing as an elderly, cantankerous customer, he's always willing to berate badly behaved children and their parents about this sort of thing. His rationale, ironically, is that they disrupt the ambience of the restaurant. To his credit, however, he does deliver his angry lecture in a low but insistent grumble rather than at a full force yell. For a small extra charge, he will add at the end of his lecture "The staff here can't say anything about your little s***'s behaviour...but I bloody well can!" He may also, at this point, inadvertently spray the unruly family with a fine mist of rage-induced spittle. He's done it before, with varying responses from restaurants staff and managers. Not everyone wants an angry old man ranting at their customers, but some establishments welcome that sort of thing. One of his better moments involved a discreetly gifted bottle of complimentary champagne, together with a hefty discount off the bill and a "Good work, sir!" wink from the maitre d'. ahhhhhh....... I love it!! I was thinking of carrying a roll of duct tape to deal with unruly children. Is that legal? It of course is the parents fault. But something should be said. I think a tasteful sign is in order, or perhaps a nice lil note on the menu. " well behaved children will get a free scoop of ice cream" or some other form of passive aggressive signage. Your unruly children will be sold into slavery by order of the manager. I am so sick of my H's friends demon children..... lil bastards even take things and say "he gave it to me". Spoiled rotten lil demons. Their hands will be so full when those girls hit 14 yrs of age....... ahhhh just wait........ will be interesting to see how current disobedience blossoms into full blown hell for them. Almost makes me snicker.......(evil me) These "things" are allowed to crawl on the restarant floors, destroy property, and disturb other patrons. It is amazing to see what the parents allow....... oh and boss around the staff as well. Just adorable! Link to post Share on other sites
alphamale Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 What do you guys think? Should restaurants be allowed to demand 'good' behavior from children? I don't know really....part of it is the kids misbehaving naturally and part is the parents incompetence or unwillingness to control their kids. The way I look at it is when you were an infant/kid you probably annoyed some people so when you become an adult you get to be annoyed by infants/kids. What goes around comes around. Link to post Share on other sites
lindya Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 The way I look at it is when you were an infant/kid you probably annoyed some people so when you become an adult you get to be annoyed by infants/kids. What goes around comes around. That's just it....most people who find that sort of thing really hard to tolerate probably do so because they were so strictly disciplined as kids. Remember that scene in Titanic, when Kate Winslet's watching the little girl carefully unfolding her napkin and being made to sit up straight by her mother? Welcome to my childhood. I don't remember ever being glared at by adults in public places. It was always old people nodding approvingly at my parents and commenting "Oooohhhh...what a beautifully behaved little girl." Of course, as soon as I grew up it all fell apart and I turned into a howling animal who regularly vents her spleen on message boards. Tomorrow I may visit MacDonalds during my lunch hour, order a kid's meal then lie down and bang my fists against the floor. God I love the freedom of being a grown up. Link to post Share on other sites
blind_otter Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 That's just it....most people who find that sort of thing really hard to tolerate probably do so because they were so strictly disciplined as kids. Remember that scene in Titanic, when Kate Winslet's watching the little girl carefully unfolding her napkin and being made to sit up straight by her mother? Welcome to my childhood. I don't remember ever being glared at by adults in public places. It was always old people nodding approvingly at my parents and commenting "Oooohhhh...what a beautifully behaved little girl." Of course, as soon as I grew up it all fell apart and I turned into a howling animal who regularly vents her spleen on message boards. Tomorrow I may visit MacDonalds during my lunch hour, order a kid's meal then lie down and bang my fists against the floor. God I love the freedom of being a grown up. THANK YOU. I regularly got my ass and back beat bloody for being a little s***. So I was one of those bizarrely mature little girls who says please and thank you and is "seen but not heard" in public. My mother, being insane, would not hestitate to grab me and march out of a store and force me to go home and get punished rather than be punished in public. I have very little patience for ill mannered children. My nieces and nephews are also extremely -- almost disturbingly -- well behaved in public. It is something that is expected and harshly punished if the expectation is not met, in my family. Obviously it worked well with me. Delinquent that I am. Link to post Share on other sites
a4a Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Lindya I too was a properly restrained child. Never out of line. Tis so true that being an adult relieves you of such pressures to behave as expected. I do not dine at McDonalds but will be sure to thrust my finger as far as I can into my nostril, call people doody heads, and stomp until my bread pudding is delivered to me tonight when eating at our reg. haunt. Link to post Share on other sites
alphamale Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 My nieces and nephews are also extremely -- almost disturbingly -- well behaved in public. It is something that is expected and harshly punished if the expectation is not met, in my family. I think thats the way it should be....the alternative is quite revolting. Parents who don't watch after and discipline their children when needed are not doing their jobs... Link to post Share on other sites
TheDiva Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Lately I've seen a lot of articles that complain about kids who behave badly in restaurants while parents do nothing about it. Did you hear about the guy with the Manhattan (I think) coffee shop? He posted a sign that said, "All children must use their indoor voices while visiting (name of coffee shop)" Apparently, some of the parents were FURIOUS that he had that sign up! They complained that small children naturally shriek and talk loudly and that it was too much to ask for their children to be kept quiet. Other people applauded the sign; they agreed that for too long children had been allowed to run wild, slam on the display case, scream and cry while the mothers sat and ignored them. What do you guys think? Should restaurants be allowed to demand 'good' behavior from children? Good behavior should be expected in places that aren't child friendly . I do believe though that quite a few of these "do nothing" parents are probably afraid of having child services called if they do anything to control the rugrats. or they are lazy parents! Behaving badly or not I hate being in a public place and watching little children and babies not being supervised at all Mainly that's shopping though, Children just wandering around while parents walk off! One thing I am a little confused about here is why would parents take their kids to a coffee shop? I wouldn't take mine in one cause the 2 littlest ones are always looking for ways to steal my coffee! Link to post Share on other sites
a4a Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 I think thats the way it should be....the alternative is quite revolting. Parents who don't watch after and discipline their children when needed are not doing their jobs... Alpha that will stunt their creativity, it can have profound trauma that will last their entire life! You cannot stifle the needs and desires of a child.......how dare you think that way! Link to post Share on other sites
alphamale Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 I wouldn't take mine in one cause the 2 littlest ones are always looking for ways to steal my coffee! Yeah, thats just what we need....little ones doped up on caffeine Link to post Share on other sites
TheDiva Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Yeah, thats just what we need....little ones doped up on caffeine It's not a pretty picture and I have gotten used to guarding my coffee well! Link to post Share on other sites
bluechocolate Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 What do you guys think? Should restaurants be allowed to demand 'good' behavior from children? Of course they should. And some restaurants should simply ban children under a certain age because they are inappropriate places for young children anyway. By that I'm thinking of one night in a very nice restaurant where the table next to us had a small child. She was getting quite unruly, climbing over the back of the chair, kicking the table, that sort of thing. This was the kind of place with a dress code & where dinner would take a few hours. Definitely not the place to take a toddler for dinner. I felt sorry for the little tyke, bored out of her wits & not at all her fault. I also recall a restaurant in Italy (where, even though they have the lowest birthrate in Europe they still adore children), it was late and a large party of two families with several children were being quite rowdy. The waitress didn't hesitate to sternly tell the kids to behave & respect the other diners and no one, including the parents, minded one bit. Link to post Share on other sites
Citizen Erased Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I think it is a real pain when you go into a nice restaurant and there is of course a screaming kid which is going off at nothing whilst its parents coo and do pretty much nothing to sop it. Why do parents bring kids to nice restaurants for? I mean, obviously Kiddie restaurants or family ones', thats a given, but I see no reason to drag a kid to a nice restaurant where they will be bored out of their brain! I think though that kids are mainly allowed to do pretty much whatever they want now, I mean, I would never have behaved in such ways as I have seen kids do in just the past 6 months, not because I was afraid of my parents, but because I knew it was wrong! But I guess if there are no boundaries then there will be no line to cross over! Link to post Share on other sites
Mariella43 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Somehow the one thing that's always killed my son is me to sing stupid songs. Like when he was small he hated the Barney song. So to get him to behave I'd start singing it and he'd put his fingers in his ears and say "MOM!!! PLEASE NO!!!". Then he'd become a perfect angel. Now that he's a teenager (14) all I have to do is start singing Karma Chameleon or Wake Me up Before You Go Go - it's sheer torture for him and he does whatever I ask. Link to post Share on other sites
Citizen Erased Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Somehow the one thing that's always killed my son is me to sing stupid songs. Like when he was small he hated the Barney song. So to get him to behave I'd start singing it and he'd put his fingers in his ears and say "MOM!!! PLEASE NO!!!". Then he'd become a perfect angel. Now that he's a teenager (14) all I have to do is start singing Karma Chameleon or Wake Me up Before You Go Go - it's sheer torture for him and he does whatever I ask. :lmao: good stuff! Link to post Share on other sites
MusicWoman Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 All I know here is, that when I was acting up when I was a little kid, my mother would tell me that if I didn't calm down, and stop throwing a tantrum and going crazy that we would go. I never wanted to go, and I would calm down 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time we would leave...thus sparing other people my tantrum in a public place, and teaching me that I need to learn how to act in public. Another problem that I think was discussed in that article (or I could be wrong since I was discussing it with someone who visits that coffee shop frequently) is that a lot of parents now a days aren't disiplining their children enough because they are afraid of them becoming resentful of it. Therefore, spoiling your child and letting them do what they want...equals in their minds that there children love them more. This person who i was talking with told me that right before they put up the sign, he was having some coffee there while these two little kids who were running around came up to his table and started shaking it like crazy...and yelling really loud. He looked around for a parent who would take back control of there child and couldn't tell who the parent/s were of them until he watched them run back to the table for a second. He politely asked the mother to ask her children not to shake his table and yell at him while he was sitting there. Instead of setting the child straight themselves, they say to them "this man would like if you don't shake HIS table".... I guess sometimes its easier to blame someone else then to disipline yourself Link to post Share on other sites
Shana Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Me, as someone who does not have children find it quite disrespectful going out to a diner AM sunday morning with my s/o to have breakfast and to chat and all you hear are children screaming and running around while the parents do nothing about it... Link to post Share on other sites
inconsiderado Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 if your nasty-ass kids can't behave themselves, then you shouldn't take them with you...get a sitter... Link to post Share on other sites
inconsiderado Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 children get a lot of flack, and they deserve it, but unruly adults have no place in a place of business either. somewhere along the line, things like manners, social graces, and common courtesy seem to have fallen by the wayside. i'm not saying you have to be all prim and proper, but don't be a dick...that's the new golden rule. and if your kids can't behave themselves, hire a sitter...besides with this lardass country, it's probably gonna mean they spend that much less on fast food. Link to post Share on other sites
alphamale Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 but unruly adults have no place in a place of business either. somewhere along the line, things like manners, social graces, and common courtesy seem to have fallen by the wayside. The other day, by mistake, I went in a Wendy's drive thru and ordered a buritto supreme and nachos bellgrande. Both restaurants were right next to each other and I went in the wrong entrance. Link to post Share on other sites
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