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OK, Im going to start something here! What do you all think of the restaurant that is banning kids under 6? I'm all for it. We always took our kids and taught them manners in public places and they know they'd better not act up, but nowadays this isn't the case. My pet peeve is people who let their kids get down and walk (or run) around the restaurant. Mine knew this was a no-no! In my years working in retail, i often wished we could ban kids from Walmart!

Children must learn somehow, think if anything, if the children are allowed down from their sits and its seen the parents are not trying to teach restuarant behavior to them, the PARENTS should be banned, children know only what they've been taught. Todays parents need more lessons, think we might have failed somehow or after 18 they just did their own thing, Thats what I like to think, saving grace, that thought.

CArol

I'm all for it. Good for the restaurant for taking the first step. I have been in many a restaurant and have seen a few accidents that never should have happened if the child remained at the table. I would also like to see parents remove the screaming child from the restaurant until he/she settles down. I had a friend that would do that and it was appreciated by those customers that were near by. My 2 cents. Linda

Private restaurant. My opinion, they can make any rules they want. Course, the govt doesn't always agree with me. I wouldn't mind a restaurant banning anyone under 18 - or even 21. There are times it might make me more likely to go out to eat. Other times, I might prefer being around the familes - until I get mad at the parents who aren't controlling their kids, etc etc. Kind of like rv parks/campgrounds. I like some of the 55 and over communities. Then I like being around families with kids - they can keep me young. I love LIW and it's definitely a family campground. But it has lots of rules - which some people don't like. Makes it work - forces everyone to behave - kids and parents

bluepinecones wrote:I'm for it. And for those restaurants allowing children, an adult only area should be available.

Good idea!

I like Sarahs idea, if children are allowed, have an adult only area available. I think parents should be asked to make the kids mind or leave if they are allowed in a restaurant. I think every new parent should be given a copy of Dr John Rosemonds book on raising children without all the psychobabble and guilt parents have fallen for. He thinks the mothers of the fifties had a lot of good ideas, that children should mind and know that they are not in charge. The parents have a united front, and their marriage isn't forgotten. Seems like the children now are made to feel like the world revolves around their every want and need. Many parents I know never say the word no and spend hours in discussing issues many times with children way to young to have a clue what they are saying. What happened to just saying no and that being reason enough! Can you tell I don't have children

Don't get me wrong, I love kids, but it really aggravates me when I go to a restaurant for dinner and there's screaming kids all around me. I expect it at a family place and deal with it, but when I go out for a nice dinner, say at Black Angus, and I'm paying around 15 or 20 for a dinner, then I get angry. I took my kids out to nice places from the time they were infants, and if they acted out or a baby started crying, I took them outside until they were quiet. There are enough good family style places to take the kids w/o taking them to an "adult" type restaurant. JMO

I'm all for it too, although it would depend on the type of restaurant too. Places that cater to romantic situations with alcohol etc,
no kids, but places like Cracker Barrel I consider to be a family type place. But all in all, parents do need to control their children in public and teach them manners.

We have similar issues at Great Clips. Parents come in for a haircut and let their kids run and scream and play with the chairs. We end up having to scold them (nicely) and/or babysit until the parents are done. So frustrating!! One kid went around raising up all the chairs one day when we were really busy and he raised up the one at the shampoo bowl. The back of the chair got caught under the lip of the bowl and pulled the whole bowl (and plumbing) off the wall! No one actually saw him do it, so we couldn't say anything, but I had seen him raising the other chairs. I even saw one parent once, spinning their kid in a chair! Do they think they are at Disneyland??
Parents now days have no control over their kids and the kids know it and take royal advantage of it. That said, there are some very good parents and kids that come in, too. Very polite and well-behaved and listen well (and their kids are good too )

I have been out to eat (mostly "family" type restaurants) with my 17 mo. old twin grandbabies and so far, if one or both cries, the parents take them out and calm them down. We DO clean up their messes also. I appreciate a well mannered child. BUT, I would rather hear a kid cry or act out rather than see/hear a drunken adult being obnoxious in a restaurant or any where for that matter. Some times adults are against children being in "adult" places (restaurants) because these people have NEVER had a child or their own.

Linda

Linda, I disagree that having had a child or not makes a difference. No, I never had my own children. I did have "steps". I did have my niece visit summers, etc. And I have always been around/with kids. But I also grew up going to restaurants from a very young age. We were taught to "see and speak only when spoken to". We sat at the table and didn't leave to go to the bathroom without asking. If we followed the rules, we could continue coming. I remember my sister doing much the same with her children. Even at places like McDonald's. My niece once had a tantrum in McDonald's and within seconds, my sister had all the food in a bag, my niece and nephew out and in the car. The next day my nephew was asked if he wanted to go out for lunch. Of course, he said yes. My niece asked why she wasn't invited. My sister told her that she didn't know how to behave in a restaurant, and her brother was not allowed his meal the previous day because of her. My niece never had a problem that I know of in another restaurant, of any kind. She hated that her brother was taken without her.

That said, parents today do give their kids latitude that I don't believe any child should have. One of the reasons I love where I am, is the kids have to follow rules here. It's good for them. And it gives them more freedom! And I love being around the Mennonite and Amish families. The kids play and have fun, and I have yet to see one have a tantrum or misbehave in public. Wonder whether that has anything to do with family values. And, yes, I'm sure one has misbehaved in public, but it's rarely seen from what I can tell here in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Linda, I do agree about disliking seeing anyone drunk and obnoxious. However, I've seen that handled, including police being called, unsually handled immediately. Unfortunately, errant children are often ignored to the point that the rest of us have our meals ruined - and I've even asked for a take-out bag and left a restaurant where I paid over $20 for my entree because of a family at the next table ruining my meal. The restaurant apologized, but I never saw them talk to the family. They did give me a discount. (When my group left, 2 others followed - and I never went back there.)

Crying children are like good intentions.....they should be carried out immediately.

If I go to a family type restaurant or fast food place I expect to see kids but it would be nice if they behaved. Like Sarah said, it would be nice to have an Adult only area. If I go out with family or friends to a nice restaurant and pay what I consider a lot of money for a meal I don't want to have to hear a screaming kid the whole time. It would be nice if they would throw the parents out if they didn't make the kids behave but I doubt that will happen. I was taken to restaurants by my Aunt and Uncle from an early age and I knew if I didn't behave I wouldn't be going back.

Martha

Redetotry wrote:I like Sarahs idea, if children are allowed, have an adult only area available. I think parents should be asked to make the kids mind or leave if they are allowed in a restaurant. I think every new parent should be given a copy of Dr John Rosemonds book on raising children without all the psychobabble and guilt parents have fallen for. He thinks the mothers of the fifties had a lot of good ideas, that children should mind and know that they are not in charge. The parents have a united front, and their marriage isn't forgotten. Seems like the children now are made to feel like the world revolves around their every want and need. Many parents I know never say the word no and spend hours in discussing issues many times with children way to young to have a clue what they are saying. What happened to just saying no and that being reason enough! Can you tell I don't have children

That's the way my kids were raised and I have to say, the first time I saw my GD misbehave in a restaurant and her mom took her outside for what I used to call a "come to Jesus meeting" I gave her a silent cheer. Guess she learned something from me after all!