Children running around restaurants

[Edel2019]

Do you let your children do the above?

If so, STOP. Or have your meal at home.

And yes, I have children. 4 and 2. They try to run? I stop them.

Went for food yesterday in a buffet restaurant. 4 children playing hide and seek running up and down the aisles. Yet people walking around with plates of food. All it wouldve taken is one to crash into someone..why risk it.

I was in NT cafe/restaurant yesterday. Little Elliot from the next door table was within a foot of my elbow all through the meal, bobbing up and down and basically being in my space. He then proceeded to drop his poms bears on the floor one by one and stamp on them. His parents didn't seem to think it was a problem and just kept on saying "it's ok if we drop things on the floor Elliot, but not if we make a mess". What?!?!
They obviously thought it was fine to let him hang about the neighbours table and bob about in the walkway.
Elliot's parents - if you read this please understand that not everyone is indulgently tolerant of your child's activities. Keep him to yourself.

FuzzyAtmosphere Well I can assure you Ive seen it loads of times. In fact its getting more and more common as people seem to think that everyone else should tolerate their kids and their poor behaviour.

Eh @fuzzyatmosphere no idea why you're commenting on this if you don't want to discuss it "again"?! Odd.

God looking at these stories I haven't seen the worst yet.

@oohnicevase Thank you so much for sharing your opinion and experience.

Also in a NT cafe, 3 children running round and round our table shrieking as we were sat down having a cup of tea and a chat while their parents sat at the next table smiling indulgently at them enjoying a quiet drink. Feckers

The pizza express on my local high street seems to be frequented by completely ineffective parents whose children run riot, climb all over everything and make loads of noise. And pretty much only those people these days. It's rarely busy now, and I'd expect it to close at some point.

If I had to take my horribly unruly nephews* out for dinner, that would be my destination of choice. Only because they wouldn't be the worst kids in there. But I'm not sure I'd be willing to subject myself to them in a restaurant, never mind anyone else (however lax their parenting).

*Among many other things, my sister does not believe that her children should hear the word 'no'. It'll damage their emotional and creative development apparently. As a result they are actual monsters.

In 1992 or so I was in a hotel restaurant during a busy weekend lunchtime. There were kids running riot through the place (in Ireland so it could have been a communion party in hindsight) and one tipped a burco boiler type thing over herself (a vat of boiling water). Someone stripped her clothes off and an ambulance was called but the child sat screaming in the middle of the room with everyone just looking aghast.

I was about 18 and had stopped for a loo break during a hitch hiking trip so continued on my journey but that image stayed with me and it makes me queasy ever since when I see kids running around a restaurant.

We were in GBK once and was sitting next to a family that were letting their kids stand up bounce up and down on the seat next to me, it was a long seat across the wall with tables in front and then chairs to make sets of four.

I asked the mum to make the child stop and OmG you'd have thought I'd manhandled the child myself! I know it's only GBK but I was sitting a foot away from a child bouncing like it was a trampoline! Luckily other families were there and stepped in to try & help the mum see reason. Sense of entitlement is astounding!