Parents should pick up after their kids who make mess in restaurants

[LifeofI]

Do you think so?

I was in a restaurant today with my friend and her two year old, her child always eats about 4 chips then the rest she just throws the food around. When we were leaving a lady made a comment "aren't you going to clean that up" my friend didn't hear but i did and said no and she just tutted.

When i got home me and my partner had a discussion and he thinks the parents should clean up after their child as he has work as a waiter and said it is annoying but i'm on the fence about it. We have a very young baby who hasn't started eating solids so we are not at that stage.

What do you think?

Leaving your mess for other people to clean up is disgusting. It's about self-respect. People who clean up after themselves were raised as clean people. They can't help it. They're probably raising their dc as clean people too. It is not unreasonable to have clean habits.

Wow, this thread has taken a strange turn. Clean people now have to justify why they clean up after themselves.

I think Venus is the only person who is insisting that people should leave everything in a pigging mess, isn't she? Other waiting staff have said they hate being left with that amount of detritus.

why keep a dog and bark yourself

What a horrible, disrespectful attitude.

Waiting staff aren't your slave!

I suppose reasonable to leave a horrendous mess if you are training your little darlings to become members of the Bullingdon club in the future?

Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Yes, how vile.

KERALA,

I had a food flinger when younger and it wasn't a matter of "letting" him as the alternative was never putting any food in front of him (while we naturally are eating our fill) and combining starving him with constant screaming. Cruel both to him and our ears. (Cue chorus of "you should have made him, he would have learned" from those who never had a flinger. Not quite sure what we should have done when easily 50% of every plateful was being thrown and taking it away just meant it would be thrown when re-presented. But that's an aside).

We clear up most large chunks of food on the high chair/floor/table (DC2 is more of a dropper than a thrower but DC1 now eats remarkably tidily) and if any drinks are spilled (these days thankfully accidentally though DC2 will need to learn to drink from an open cup some day) we wipe them up immediately with large cloths/blue roll from the kitchen if necessary.

I've apologised to staff for the mess in the past and invariably been told "that's OK, it's our job". I don't carry anti-bac cleaner or wipes and don't have a kitchen grade microfibre cloth either, so I don't assume I'm going to be able to leave the table customer-ready but also think it's helpful to clear up the worst and especially to sort out drink spills immediately so they don't spread. I'd do the latter if I spilled it, too.

I pick the big bits off the floor and leave a bigger tip than I would have done pre DC. Thought this was normal

leave a bigger tip

This too. Also thought it was normal. In self service cafes I hope that a smile and apology is enough (as there's no real mechanism to tip).

The only time I have not cleared up was in a cafe where the high chair had a notice on it saying "Do not leave child unattended in high chair", the table had a notice on it saying "Please clear your table yourself", the area for clearing was out of sight of the table, and the DC I had with me was too small to walk reliably to the clearing area. I did pick up the big chunks from the floor though, and left them on the tray with all the other dishes I had no way of getting to the clearing area.

Back when I waited tables, I once had a small family in and I took their order. While they were waiting, I noticed that they had moved tables and went to find out if they had been sitting in a draught or whatever to see if there was a problem.

Turns out the child had vomited all over the fully set table for four - full cutlery settings, side plates, wine glasses, cups, condiments, milk, sugar. It was dripping off the tablecloth onto the fabric of the seats and onto the floor. Spewed. I've cleaned up plenty in my time but this really got my stomach churning.

The mother just nonchalantly went "Oh yes, DD got a little sick, so we moved seats" and not only made zero effort to clean up, (which I always used to nicely tell people there was no need to anyway) but never so much as offered to. Dad just smirked. Child looked utterly miserably ill, the poor wee mite.

I would have waved off any parent's attempts to clean up that with a wipe, - it needed sanitising properly after all and certainly would not have been anything other than understanding and kind about it, but the way that the mother pretended to ignore it and Dad smirking at me cleaning up the mess on my hands and knees and not even apologising was hugely disrespectful.

I'm a plate stacker and will do what I can to minimise the clean up for our waiting staff. And my child knows how to eat nicely at a table and not throw food.

Venusrising - what or who is a "buss boy"? I have never heard this expression before. It sounds insulting though.

The "professionals" are paid to wait on tables and serve food, and get the table ready for the next customer. However, I don't think this should include picking up the disgarded chips of a child who threw the food around.

Not read everyone's comments but am shocked anyone would leave food thrown on the floor by their child.
Of course you should clean it up.
Why doesn't your friend give her child a couple of chips and no more until they have eaten those? Obviously at home you can give them a plateful and let them do whatever it is you approve, of but when eating out, its just not on to leave a lot of food on the floor for them to clean up.

Orrla, eugh. They should have gone home!

A bus boy is someone whose job is cleaning up and preparing tables. More common in the US but not unheard of here.

And 'bussing tables' means clearing them.

'Bus boy' is not insulting. It's a job -- cleaning up the tables and under them, setting them again with napkins and glasses and silverware, going around the restaurant refilling water and coffee. DS did this while in university. In a cafe or buffet where you serve yourself or service is at a counter all you get is busboys (or girls).

I think that parents doing a half-arsed job of clearing up without the proper tools/products is absolutely revolting.
Have a word with your waiter or let an employee know, but don't just smear the food about with a napkin and leave everyone under the impression that the area is clean when it is not.

Al tables should be cleaned before the next customer arrives no matter how much cleaning up is done by the previous one. I don't think anyone is under the illusion that a diner is going to render the table usable again for the next customer.

What a customer achieves by even a token clean up is a gesture of apology for a mess made by a child, or a gesture of respect, human to human, to the staff who are going to tackle the table when they leave. The tip reflects not only appreciation for the service of the food and drinks but also appreciation for the presentation of the table when the customer arrived and for the fact that the staff are going to clean it all up afterwards.

^^ this.

Yes mathanxiety