Screaming Kids in Restaurants...

[Scuba]

We are in Greece and last night we were surrounded by smokers. The staff moved us to a corner table on the opposite side of the restaurant and didn’t seat anyone new near us, thankfully! Left them a nice tip.

 

[Fairfax2018]

When I was in France at a steak place, I did speak out loud in English to my husband in a conversation, hoping they didn’t understand me, that these were awful kids, parents should do better, when our kids were young, they never pulled anything close to this, etc.. sure enough, one father did manage to tell his son not to scream, kind of like shushing him. I don’t know if this belongs to the category of shaming the parents, but I can’t be fault for being an outspoken person. A lot of diners there were not pleased with the noise either.

Maybe it’s because I’m in the thick of parenting at this stage of my life but thjs makes me feel bad for the parents. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I heard someone saying I had awful kids. :-(

 

[erkevin]

That's not bossy; it's common sense, especially since you are willing to take the situation into consideration. We love booths/banquettes, and always ask for a booth if they have them.

When a waitress at a nice, and not crowded, restaurant seated us at a teeny table-for-two where we ended up kicking each other, I requested to be moved to a larger table with room for our long legs. She moved us; didn't bat an eye. Now..."bossy" would have been if the restaurant was almost full, and there was only one table-for-four left. In that event, I think we would have left and gone somewhere else.

not bossy, "assertive" is the adjective and there is nothing wrong with being assertive IMHO

 

[Teacher Terry]

Fairfax, if people are letting their kids act out in public without removing them they deserve to hear their kids are brats.

 

[Fedup]

Fairfax, if people are letting their kids act out in public without removing them they deserve to hear their kids are brats.

They were French, southern France in fact, not a lot of people speak English. I forgot a lot of my French, otherwise if I want them to really hear me, I might slip the term enfants terrible. My sister who knows more French then I do, often joked about it. I think there might be a movie out with that in the title.

 

[Bestwifeever]

If something really bothered us we would vote with our feet and leave. I try to maintain some perspective. It’s just one meal.

The last time I gave a somewhat dirty look to a misbehaving child with a dad, I then realized the boy had some challenges as the behavior continued. Unfortunately the dad had noticed my look and apologized and explained—but to this day, twenty years later,) I feel bad that I added even a minute to their struggles.

I can remember getting compliments on the rare occasions we took our kids out and that was special to hear, so I try to do that if I notice young parents in a restaurant or traveling if appropriate. We have pretty well-behaved small grandchildren who eat at restaurants all the time at lesser restaurants where families are the norm. One child always makes a big mess—if something can be spilled, it will be—and after the meal I always wait for the busboy to start cleaning up and give him/her $20.

 

[madsquopper]

My friend and I were eating dinner at a taco joint and he left to use the restroom. A little kid from the next table came over, sat in my friend's seat, and before I could stop him reached into my friend's plate and grabbed a French fry.

I looked over at his father who just gave me a sheepish look and said, "Curious, isn't he?" I wanted to reply back, "Yeah, he's Curious George, isn't he" but didn't want to risk getting info a fight (assuming the guy knew who/what Curious George was).

Larry

 

[Big_Hitter]

My friend and I were eating dinner at a taco joint and he left to use the restroom. A little kid from the next table came over, sat in my friend's seat, and before I could stop him reached into my friend's plate and grabbed a French fry.

that's awesome

stuff like that doesn't bother me at all, it's the running around screaming that doesn't belong

 

[Big_Hitter]

Maybe it’s because I’m in the thick of parenting at this stage of my life but thjs makes me feel bad for the parents. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I heard someone saying I had awful kids. :-(

constructive feedback

 

[MRG]

that's awesome

stuff like that doesn't bother me at all, it's the running around screaming that doesn't belong

Yeah. I'd laugh and make a new young friend!

It's not like the kid climbed up and dropped a deuce on the fries.

I'm trying to think of the last time someone's kids upset us in a restaurant. Not sure I ever remember that.

I know some dude having a heart attack really screwed up a dining experience. Probably the projectile vomiting more than the heart attack.

I remember a nice Italian restaurant who's chef had a foul temper. We asked to be moved due to his foul language coming from the kitchen. A buddy w*rked there on weekends and said the cook was eventually let go due to customer complaints.

 

[Dash man]

Kids in restaurants generally don’t bother us. I think they need to be brought to family restaurants in order to teach them to behave. If the parents are trying to maintain control, I’m not bothered. The parents who don’t care bother us more than the kids.
It’s not unusual for young kids to make a mess at the table. I’d try to clean up a bit myself. But if I can’t, the server will get a much more generous tip.

 

[Fedup]

I don’t think it’s a general noise that bothered us, some kids screamed with sharp pitch and parents did nothing.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

For me, it's kind of situation dependent.
If we go to a family type restaurant, we pretty much accept it if kids are wandering around and the odd shriek. My only wish, having worked as a server years ago, is that if a huge mess is left that a thoughtful tip is also left.

On the other hand, some restaurants don't cater to kids and parents can't take the hint. There was a news segment where these parents were upset because this regional chain restaurant didn't carry high chairs. The restaurant didn't overtly say "no kids" but it's pretty obvious they wanted a different clientele other than families.

 

[hausfrau]

I haven't come across too many screaming or wandering kids in restaurants. There aren't a lot of kids in our neighborhood though, so maybe that's part of it. The only thing that really bothered me once was seeing a baby in just a diaper sitting at the table. That didn't seem very appropriate to me in a public restaurant. I hated taking our child out to eat when she was younger (like 2 or 3). She was just fine, but my husband was always in a rush to get us in and out of there. He wanted us to order as soon as we were approached by a server and I was never ready.