to ask mums of toddlers not to use screens in places that aren't appropriate.

[getoffmybramblepatch]

I went out for a meal with dh yesterday without our children. We do take them out for meals often and our 20 month old is usually really well behaved because he has been taught to be. If he ever does get impatient we just talk to him at a level appropriate for the dinner table and maybe give him some colouring in to do or have a game of I spy.
either way, we try to communicate with him to keep him calm and we'll behaved at all times, for our own sanity as much as everyone else's.

Yesterday we were enjoying our child free meal until a family arrived at a table on the other side of the room and a child of about the same age wouldn't settle. Nothing was said to this child.. No discipline, no chat, the first line to come from mum and dad was "here, watch pepper pig". Out comes the tablet and on comes pepper pig so loud to the point where I can't hear myself think. It would have been quieter if we had stayed at home with our dc and this is usually a nice place.
I've seen it happen a lot lately, and pepper pig seems to be programme of choice. Aibu to think that I don't give a toss about the rod you are making for your own backs, but to let these parents know how irritating it is when this is your first resort in places that have etiquette?

Latin braille.

Is it too late to come to the thread after 252 posts, read the first one and tell the op to piss off?

Welcome lunar

Thank you for the welcome cat. My two are of course perfectly trained children as they have been patented properly, and at no point been bribed with haribo.

you can patent children?????? :o

Haha, look out for replicas of my perfectly behaved children, coming soon.

:o

We always called DS1 "the prototype"

You lot make me chuckle! I have a 20 month old nephew - can't wait to play I spy with him at the weekend!

Dh, dd (9) and myself went out for a meal last week and there were more adults pissing about with tablets and phones at the table than children.

Feel a bit of a cunt about the I spy thing, we did this with dd when she was little to keep her occupied and she still asks to play now when waiting for food. I'm mortified that we might come across as smug or showing off.

Dd will take her ipad or ds out when we go for meals but only uses it when the adult convos bore her, which isn't often as she loves earwigging, it's put away when food comes and it's always muted.

Screens fine, noise not. Didn't have tablets when my two were small but I am not opposed to them.

yanbu about the volume OP but you are coming across as very smug with your whole 20 months parenting experience, would you rather the child sat and shrieked for the whole meal?

For what its worth my DS(10) is the closest to a perfectly behaved child you'll ever meet and has had impeccable table manners since he was a toddler, my 6 year old DD however organised a water fight in the boys toilets at lunchtime while she was meant to be sat eating her lunch (because it was too cold outside and she thought no one would notice a wet floor in the boys toilets) such trouble making from her isn't even unusual. They have been parented in exactly the same way, DS is just a very good child, or DD is a very naughty child, I'm not sure which.

bramwell, your daughter showed extreme leadership skills and bravery. She will go far.

thanks Catsize, I may use that on parents evening. I must admit I'm always secretly impressed with the amount of planning and creativity that goes into her naughtiness.

This thread reminds me of the very naice cupcake cafe near us (they also do wicked breakfasts) which has a stack of board games to borrow. There's always some fantastically well-behaved tiny girl in a pinafore dress playing chess quietly with her beautiful mother, while me and (much older) DS are exercising our intellects with, er, Connect 4.

Worried about the noise being unreasonable. How will my ds pass the time with his cello when he's 3

Ds (now 10) knew his colours at 18m. There is an apocryphal tale that my Dm taught me all the common garden birds by 2. I used to read out loud to ds on public transpor at that age is that better or worse ? My bff used to give her 2 year old a lollipop to keep her quiet, is that better ? FWIW we went through a stage of bringing electronics to restaurants but now they actually prefer our company .