To get pissed off at children running around in restaurants?

[CelticPixie]

We went out for lunch today and there was a large group sat behind us. It was obviously a family celebration with parents, grandparents, kids etc. A little boy from the group who must have been around two was running around our part of the restaurant screaming and shouting and getting under the feet of waiting staff carrying hot food etc. He also kept approaching people at other tables and kept asking them if they were having their dinner and what they were having. At no point did his parents do anything to stop him and they just kept on smiling at him, but it was obvious that he was getting on everyone else's nerves.

Its a family friendly place and there were lots of other small children in there but he was the only one running about and being a nuisance. I will NOT allow my DDs to run about and disrupt others people's meals and it pisses me off that other people have so little consideration for anyone but themselves. If mine wants to go to the loo one of us takes them, if they are bored we take them out to the play area. It's really not hard is it?

Squarepebbles not all kids are into relaxing things, some are almost constantly active and don't like to sit still
Especially if they're used to being outside and doing things all the time
As they get a bit older they'll love it though, just like mine do!

I wouldn't tolerate it if a child was being a pita,spoiling my meal and I'd paid £££££- I'd complain.

Bella I had active,outdoorsy twin boys.

what point am i missing

i have yet to see a child demand that an adult talk to them i see adults and children interact

'Spoiling my meal' jesus christ if they were tampering with your food id call them back to the table
Just like I do when they start getting far away i.

MsBella... If we don't teach our children to behave appropriately in social settings, they will suffer. They will likely suffer from one or more of the following:

1. Injury from being where they shouldn't be - restaurants and anywhere else.
2. Being left out from invitations from school and other friends.
3. Being sharply reprimanded by adults who don't appreciate their gregariousness.

We're the parents; our children depend on us for the lessons, which are invariably gentler than they will receive from society. If we are good parents, we don't put them in the frontline of misery years down the line.

I have the solution, if your children are unable to sit still and eat, take them on a bloody picnic.

Children running around where there are hot food and drinks being carried by people who don't necessarily expect there to be children running round ie in a restaurant not a playground sends shivers down my spine.

Of course anyone has the right to not want to engage with a child

Finally.

And an active,outdoorsy dd a year younger!

LyingWitch that's just not true, my kids are sociable, friends at school, invited to parties..
They're lovely ffs like I said being considerate and nice isn't about wandering around a bit or petty things like using the wrong fork or...speaking its about being kind etc.
Priorities!
No 'misery years' so far.... I don't know what planet you live on but there are plently of kids who do the same things as mine in public

when the dc and parents were thinking they enjoyed it

Im baffled as to why you think other people would enjoy have their meal interrupted by some one elses children?

WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT USING THE WRONG FORKING FORK??!!!

It is not considerate of others to roam around a restaurant, getting in people's way and bothering people who might be trying to have a quiet meal. That is just about the opposite of being considerate.

I forgot eating needs your full attention, a little kid saying hello blah blah blah to your or your dcs kids could severely disrupt the meal......especially as it won't exactly last a long time

If you want to let your kids roam free, go out for a bloody picnic ffs.

'Train kids properly from day 1' oh my god I feel sick reading that...

Really, really, you don't get that that is a large part of what parents do. They love them , they give them lots of fun and they teach them how to get on in the wider world.

This has got to be a wind up now.

My children had a childhood filled with fun - camping in large groups, climbing cliffs, climbing mountains (not just trees), wading through rivers, swimming in the sea, having a large and supportive network of friends and family. They also had to be shown what society expects of them, so that they can be confident and happy. Boundaries are good.

Have a love/hate relationship with this thread now.

Bella. I want to concentrate on my food and my family when I pay £££££££. We rarely get out these days.

I do not want to gurn,make baby talk,acknowledge,interact,listen,look out for or have anything else to do with other people's children.

Re tampering with food- lets not go there!

There are more important things to worry about that something as petty as this. Id rather spend my time teaching my dcs about being happy and considering peoples feelings NOT INCLUDING someone being offended because your table manners are 'wrong'

MsBella - two tables away is too far for you to pull your child out of harm's way if a waiter is about to trip over them!!

And it is a parent's job to teach their child how to behave appropriately in different circumstances and situations - and that DOES have to start from Day1. Yes, what you teach your child, and how you teach them does have to be appropriate to their age and development, but we ARE teaching/training our children from the word 'Go'.

No, but imagine if my husband and I finally get to go out for a nice meal together. I have had to put up with my MIL for a whole weekend just so she will babysit. We don't get a lot of chance to spend some nice, quiet time together to chat about stuff not to do with toddlers. And then I get your kids coming over and wanting a little chat. Interrupting our conversation. That would piss me off, and I would gently tell your children that as they are in a restaurant they should be with their parents/whoever has brought them. It is not my job, when out, to entertain your children.

If you are truly teaching your kids to consider other people's feelings, then you'd be teaching them not to inflict themselves on other people.

I forgot eating needs your full attention, a little kid saying hello blah blah blah to your or your dcs kids could severely disrupt the meal.

If you are working hard to get your children to behave and eat then yes another child coming to the table could severely disrupt the meal.

And the fact that you can't see the problem here is evidence that you probably haven't done a very good job of teaching your children to be considerate to others, regardless of your claims. I'm sure they are lovely, but it is fucking annoying and rude to go up to strangers in a restaurant and try and engage them in conversation for their own amusement.

When I go out for a meal with my family its a treat for all of us and we sit and chat to each other, I have five children of my own who I want to enjoy talking to. I do not want to entertain someone else's child, they have their own parents they can talk to.