Yes parents in restaurant, you were VU!

[Bogeyface]

It was not the waitress's fault that she tripped over your daughter who was running around with your son causing havoc, it was not the waitress's fault that your DD got caught on the arm with a fork that fell off the tray of pots she was carrying, it was yours. If you bothered to look after them instead of texting, talking and watching TV on your phones then it wouldnt have happened.

That was why the manager refused to give you a refund on the 5 meals you had, and I agreed with him when he said that a restaurant is not an appropriate place for a child to be running around. I also agreed with him when he said that if you couldnt keep your children under control then you would not be welcome back. So did everyone else, which is why no one jumped to your defence when you said "No one minds do they?" looking at the other diners.

Oh and btw, occasionally jiggling the buggy while you stuff your face is not a recognised way of calming a howling baby. Try feeding the baby before you feed yourselves you selfish bastards.

You ruined our meal out, which is a very rare treat for us these days thanks a fucking bunch for that.

Well done the restaurant manager. I would have been tempted to start a round of applause.

I hate this kind of behaviour with a passion, in fact something similar happened to me a few weeks ago and I started a thread on it. Nice, mid price range restaurant on a weeknight, 7.30pm so not early.

Family on next table, mum, dad and grandparents celebrating mums birthday (I new this because they were very loud and were shouting it everywhere). Two kids aged between about eight and ten, so not toddlers and old enough to know better were running riot around the restaurant with a toy gun pretending to shoot each other. At no point did they tell the kids to stop, that they were being a nuisance to other diners and that they were getting in the way of staff trying to do their jobs. They were far more interested in getting pissed on Rose and making sure everyone else in the room knew their business.

I was with my mum and at one point she shouted loudly that if we'd have done that in a restaurant as kids she'd have "tanned your backsides". Seriously, my brother was one of this kids who couldn't sit still and got bored easily so we didn't eat out ever unless it was McDonalds or KFC. I didn't go to a restaurant until I was a teenager for exactly that reason.

It's just shit parenting.

"It's just shit parenting"

This ^^

Yikes an electronic keyboard,how excessive.the noise would be hellish

It is though. Last week I was I another restaurant and there was a little boy of around 4/5 on the next table and he was impeccably behaved. He sat there quietly playing on his mums phone, when he wanted to go to the toilet his mum took him by the hand with no fuss. You wouldn't have know he was there, it was a joy to see.

No one minds kids being in restaurants, but please make them behave. If they scream or get bored and fidgety and want a wander about then take them outside for some air. Bring colouring books or games to keep them occupied. Don't let them run riot and ruin other peoples meal out with your lousy parenting. It's not fair.

Restuarants are busy commercial property,staff carry hot foods.its not a playzone
Unfortunately a minority let their weans behave badly,and its intrusive to others
And responsible parents dont let them run around

If your children don't/can't behave in restaurants, don't go to them. For this reason we avoided most restaurants as a family for the past 15 years, much to the bemusement of those with one well behaved child.

This is exactly why we only go to non-family friendly pubs these days (we don't have kids). There is nothing worse than other peoples' badly behaved children when you are trying to enjoy a meal.
What the heck are you doing on MUMSnet then, Gartenzwerg

windchime
"What the heck are you doing on MUMSnet then, Gartenzwerg"

There are lots of people on here that are not parents.

I was thinking that. Many of our interesting and prolific posters are childless. Even those of us with children are occasionally capable of discussions covering other things.

You should have given them that rant there and then. :)

Is there not a place fuckwit parents can take their darling little unruly dc's...Oh yeah...MacDonald's.
I was in Thai restaurant a couple of weeks ago with dp for lunch. Just after we sat down a young couple came in with 2 dc's...they'd given the youngest one a harmonica...who the fuck gives their kid a harmonica in a restaurant. Needless to say the restaurant emptied swiftly.
Can you imagine how these parents and kids behave in their own homes.

YANBU... but did you actually SAY anything when the inconsiderate parents said "No one minds, do they"? Because if you didn't, you can't really moan about them after the event. I would have given them the full Margo Leadbetter long before they started arguing with the manager.

Monte and Worra just contridicted themselves completely on the plight of Uk children v their superior mainland contintental counterparts.

That meal OP sounds hellish - must be awful to be waiting staff in that situation.

Gotta say took my 3 year old to a wedding in italy - he was three - bored shitless and decided to run for the entire 6 hours of this long, long sedate meal - but we found him a space where he wouldn't be in the way. I was just astounded that the other kids could sit there for that long. the very next day I was in the village shop and the owner said he felt sorry for me that ds had a learning disability. He doesn't - was just bored shitless and wanted to burn off energy. Some people have very weird perceptions

That is because Italian children are superior to UK children in every single way - did you not know this?

Interestingly, in our group of friends the worst behaved liveliest children belong to a woman from the Netherlands.

That's surprising SirChenjin because in a recent 'Which?' poll, Netherlands children were rated in the top ten. Italian children came top, naturally.

Apparently, an Italian child in a Scandinavian carseat eating French carbohydrate products was ratest the safest overall combination by a poll of over 100,000 parents.

I was out for a meal a while ago. Around 7.30 quite small restaurant. Some people came in with a toddler and a high chair was brought out. My heart sunk. Anyway the child was very well behave. She started banging with a spoon at one point and was told by a parent presumably not to. She stopped. So no problem. It's people who have totally disregard for everyone else I object to. Thinking their precious darlings have the right to scream and charge round simply because that's what children do. Rant over!

Time for me to have a little boast and say that many years ago, when DS was about 3 a woman in a restaurant came up to me and DH and said what a lovely boy DS was and that he was a credit to us. He behaved himself so well that other diners noticed. :)

I left a restaurant once when DS was about 3 because he wouldn't sit still and kept escaping from his seat. There was no way I was having him running round in a restaurant. I just paid for what we had and apologised to my friends. DS got a shock when we left and I told him we were going home and there would be no pudding. He's not done it since and he's 9 now.

I have also complimented other parents on their childrens behaviour, as well as telling off others peoples children for running around and banging against our table and chairs.

My DS makes me laugh now though, as he's such a flippin know it all. I don't even have to mention the behaviour of other children, as he does it for me. He has no hesitation in commenting on bad behaviour and there have been times when other parents have over heard. I just chuckle when they then proceed to give me dirty looks.

That's surprising SirChenjin because in a recent 'Which?' poll, Netherlands children were rated in the top ten

That is very interesting - the same woman has a brother who teaches in an international school in Belgium. He left the Netherlands as he was utterly fed up of the behaviour of the children there - he felt that teachers were expected to negotiate with the children rather than direct things in the classroom.

Oh dear ... reminds me of something I witnessed in a well known London dept. store some years back. In the 'house and garden' section there was a display involving a shed, planters and a ladder resting against shed. A notice prominently displayed asked people NOT to touch the display. Fair enough.

Enter a woman with two girls, around eight - ten. The girls immediately started messing around with the shed display. A sales assistant approached and politely asked the woman to tell her children to not do this. In loud, braying tones the woman snootily told the assistant that the girls weren't doing any harm, then turned her back on him. Meanwhile, one of the girls had climbed to the top of the ladder, about 3 metres high, the other girl was shaking the base of it and ... and ... guess what? Ladder slipped forward, fell back in a graceful arc, on top of the girl at the base and smacking the girl at the top bang onto the floor on her back.

I know, I know, it wasn't really funny, but still ...both girls got up, probably no more than bruised, and the mother furious, glaring daggers at everyone, marched out.

As for kids in restaurants, all five of my grandkids have been taken to them since toddler stage. Always with a good supply of books, paper, coloured pens, crayons, small (non-noisy) toys. My son and daughter and their spouses would never have allowed the children to run around and the kids, having plenty to entertain them, wouldn't have wanted to.

Good for the manager telling like it was in OP's post.

You let your child play on an ipad in a restaurant?? Don't you know this means that your child will grow up starved of love and incapable of holding a conversation at the dinner table (or indeed anywhere)??????