Coffee shops on a Sunday morning and children

[Needmorecaffine]

This will kick off no doubt but hey. Slightly tongue in cheek.

Coffee shops on a Sunday morning should be a haven for adults who seek to get away in piece and quiet from every day life for an hour. That means getting away from your own children , DH etc

So been here 5 mins , had to queue behind a mother with her toddler using the display of pastries like choosing sweets in a sweet shop ! Just pick up a croissant get your latte soya single shot and move along !

Then we have the child , mother and grandmother. The GM doing the exaggerated parenting in this case with the GC much to the horror of her own DD. Thankfully they've gone.

Piece and quiet now reins ....

@Urkiddingright - but most pubs aren't child free during the day. Most allow children until about 7/8pm.

child free are night clubs

Are you sure? Last time I went to a club I was 20 and already feeling old!

It would be fair enough to say if you want a coffee in peace and quiet, go to a pub. But the pub will have kids in as well.
Sometimes I just want a place to sit that is quiet and relaxing. There are very few public places that meet this desire.

Blimey, there are a lot of angry parents on here, aren’t there.

People, including parents, wanting a child free space verses furious parents accusing them of being unreasonable to not want to share with their precious child.

I think I know which parents are the entitled ones. It’s certainly not the ones that simply want child free spaces. 🙄

Exactly- which means they still welcome kids. So my point stands- a coffee shop that bans kids would be a poor financial business decision

If you read my other posts, you will note that there’s only the odd, well behaved child in there and that because the owner has made it as child unfriendly as possible. The only reason she has not outright banned children, is the fact that parents who never normally darken her doorstep would turn up just out of a perceived offence. The very type of parents that are outraged on here, that OP should ever suggest such a thing. No one needs to put up with that nonsense. It’s best to quietly cater to adults, because the kind of decent parent that ‘occasionally’ bring their child there, is the kind of parent that appreciates a quiet cafe, without children running around, so keep control of their child.

Yes I agree that a coffee shop that actually banned kids would get a campaign launched against it.

Also I have read posts on here from people who actually run cafes that say groups of parents with kids often make them lose money. With their buggies they take up more space, they put other people off coming in and they rarely spend as much as adults would taking up the same amount of space.

For an example see the comment on this thread from a mum with 3 kids who says the cafe will be glad of her custom because she spends £20. I get that £20 is a lot of money for 1 adult to spend, but there are 4 people and £20 is not a lot for 4 adults to spend.

Sometimes I just want a place to sit that is quiet and relaxing. There are very few public places that meet this desire.

THIS.

And my issue isn't with children. It's with parents who either don't control their children and let them run riot, or performance parents who insist in doing so at full volume to make sure there's no danger of anyone not noticing them interacting with their off spring.

Yes I agree that a coffee shop that actually banned kids would get a campaign launched against it.

If you google "child free coffee shops" or similar, you can see this has already happened! People have set up adult-only spaces and have been absolutely vilified for it.

Because heaven forbid there are adult only, alcohol-free spaces for adults to relax in throughout the day. No, of course kids should be able to go wherever they like, 24/7

After further thought I think a child friendly place like my idea further up thread - next door have an over 18s place

Then people get everything in one place, with both in close proximity it’s harder to start a campaign against an over 18s place if there is a very child oriented place next door...as people would just go next door

I don't know why you would start a thread like this on Mumsnet unless you wanted to make a whole load of people feel really crap and self conscious.

As you know, op, children are part of society and have every right to be out and about in it! I think dogs are really irritating on country walks with their barky scaring off wildlife ways but I don't go on dogsnet to try to shame them into staying in their own houses! Of course they want to go for walks! I suck it up.

Is it any wonder some parents feel insecure taking their children out to somewhere more adult than the park or softplay!

I don't know why you would start a thread like this on Mumsnet unless you wanted to make a whole load of people feel really crap and self conscious.

Because you can be a parent and be an advocate of childfree spaces?

It would be fair enough to say if you want a coffee in peace and quiet, go to a pub. But the pub will have kids in as well.
Sometimes I just want a place to sit that is quiet and relaxing. There are very few public places that meet this desire.

Fair enough, but plenty of adults have made outsings less peaceful and relaxing.

Honestly, I can't think of a time pre-children that I've ever been out and felt something should be childfree. There have been many times where I have been disturbed because of irresponsible parenting however.

Agree that it is difficult to find quiet places. Even libraries are noisy now.

Why Sunday morning specifically? If children are being loud and badly behaved, they are just as annoying at any time of the week. If they are behaving fine and talking at normal volume, they have just as much right to be there as you do, whether it's Sunday morning or not!

Why is Mumsnet so full of people who hate kids and families? 😂

*I don't know why you would start a thread like this on Mumsnet unless you wanted to make a whole load of people feel really crap and self conscious
*
Gosh sorry didn't realise you couldn't post anything that dare go against children.

Why Sunday morning ?

Perhaps because I happen to be there this morning as I work during week. It could be any day of the week really.

@UnnecessarilyUpset I think it's the post-children crew who appreciate adult only spaces the most hahaha. After you've spent twenty years or so going nowhere but family oriented places, resorts etc, you've had quite enough of other people's children! Pre-children it isn't such an issue because you're more able to go to pubs and nice restaurants and you've never drunk an ersatz overpriced coffee in a soft play centre. But once those decades are behind you, or even starting to move behind you, you want to keep on walking, like, quickly.

I know that I'm looking forward to five years' time when my youngest leaves school at which point I will never, ever book a termtime holiday again. With reduced cost being only a minor benefit.

You can dare post what you want. It doesn't go against children does it. You're basically slagging off parents of small children who dare appear in public.

Give me dogs over kids any time! Ban them from everywhere (and yes I have them).

People are very touchy on MN.

Perhaps they can't wait for the children to go back to school tomorrow

People can be quite passive aggressive on MN too, talking about people rather than directly to them. I suppose that's the nature of an online forum, or maybe having opinions they're secretly ashamed of

You're basically slagging off parents of small children who dare appear in public.

No she's not. She's saying that an adult-only space would be a nice thing to have. In the past, adults could go to the pub, but more and more of them are becoming "child-friendly" so you can no longer do that. DH and I go the pub regularly for a drink and a meal and every single time we go there are families with small children - I don't think that would have been the case 15-20 years ago.

What's wrong with advocating for an adult-only daytime space where over 16's/18's can go and have some peace and quiet away from small kids?

There are thousands of family friendly places to go, after all.