I remember teaching dance class one time. Couple walks in with their kids about 3 and 5. Kids are running around, talking, making noise, annoying the other students. I finally break down and say, "Dude, you gotta do something with your kids."
So what do the brilliant parents do?
They put the toddlers ON THEIR HEADS/SHOULDERS like a chicken fight in a pool and try to dance with each other. For those of you unfamiliar with the world of ballroom dancing you need the use of your hands to dance with your partner, so these kids are essentially unsecured holding on to the heads of their parents who try (and fail) to do basic turns because they are effectively too tall with their children on top of them.
The guy who I asked to get his kids under control of course filed a complaint, but apparently people are fighting back.
Kids are awesome but they have to be raised properly - that's with love but also a good deal of firmness. I've always taken my son out to restaurants, but then I've also always worked on his manners. A lot of people neglect that second part, and that's how you wind up with badly behaved kids in restaurants. I totally get why some would want them banned.
ReplyDeleteAll true.
ReplyDeleteThe other side is I've seen people:
A. Be totally intolerant of even the smallest and most minor of antics of little kids.
B. Have staff just be rude to parents, there are ways to be nice to parents while you are telling them and their devil spawn to bugger off.
That being said, children who are doing anything but "be seen, and not heard" don't have any business being in a nice restaurant.
Mothers put up with so much crap from their kids that they are desensitized to how annoying their children are.
ReplyDeleteThey sacrifice life as they know it when they have kids, and typically resent anyone who isn't willing to tolerate their little brats.
Given the choice between eating at a place that allows children and one that doesn't, I'd take the child-free restaurant every time.
At my wedding, we didn't invite any kids. At $50 a head, it would have made the cost too damned high and turn the celebration into a fiasco.
ReplyDeleteAll my friends found babysitters, but my military co-workers screamed like stuck pigs. Many chose not to show up, so all the money we paid for their seats was lost. They didn't even tell me a sitter was a problem until a few days beforehand.
The bottom line of these parents dragging their kids out to "adult" entertainment is the bottom line - they didn't want to PAY for someone to watch their kids.
The solution is for the venue to either ban children under 16 or charge extra for them. They can also use their "right to refuse service to anyone" to eject parents whose kids are unruly.
If those kids fell off their parents' shoulders, it would be the business that would get sued. The suit would fail, but an insurance company might just pay to settle.
I see the same inconsiderate BS at movie theaters. Parents too cheap to get a sitter bring their rug rats to movies and can't control them. So they disturb everyone else for the sake of their own convenience and cost.
In shopping malls, I see more and more parents letting their tiny tots roam free. As they keep walking, Junior has found something terribly interesting in the other direction, and is under everyone else's feet. The parents turn around and are ASTONISHED their kid isn't right on their heels behaving like an angel.
I say, "To Hell with them!"
I'm a parent, and when my son was with me he was always in my sight and I always moderated his actions. When he became unruly in a theater, we walked outside and had a serious talk. I have to admit that Lord of the Rings was just too long for a kid his age. I thought the story would have him captivated, but I was wrong. You should have heard the shrill screams of all the kids whose parents thought Jurassic Park was suitable for small children. :)