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?

No it isn't remotely like that, because you could put your litter in the bin in that case, and the litter picker wouldn't have had to do anything.

It's more like lining up piles of litter by colour before the litter picker comes and then standing there waiting to be thanked when he has exactly the same amount of work to do (or perhaps more if you have unwittingly made things harder in some way)

I am not being deliberately obtuse I'm just failing to understand this thread really.

Do any of you have cleaners at home?

Do you clean before the cleaners come?

Do you disapprove of having cleaners? And think that "women" who do are "slovenly"?

Why shouldn't the people paid to clean cafes, clean cafes?

Do you think they resent it?

Do you resent your job? Do you sulk around at work thinking "I wouldn't have had to do that piece of work if someone else had already done it"?

I am just mystified really

Yes, it is like that.

You shouldn't throw food - or litter - on the floor and expect someone else to pick it up.

Yes we have a cleaner.

Personally speaking I love my job.

Dislike lack of manners and slovenly entitled or thoughtless slobs, litter bugs etcetera etcetera

No. it isn't like that at all. If there is a bin, you should put rubbish in a bin. If there is a complicated scenario like a table and a floor and various crockery and fluids and solids and napkins, it requires cleaning equipment to sort out. there isn't any for customers in cafes, as they are not expected to this. People who insist on getting all up in your face with dirty crockery without actually achieving much are really really annoying. IN MY OPINION

Yes, it is like that.

You're coming up with convoluted and imagined scenarios about sizes of crumbs and crockery shenanigans - bottom line is that if your kid throws food on the floor then you pick it up. If someone else chooses to get down on their hands and knees and pick up a breadcrumb, or give the table a wipe down with a babywipe then it's not affecting you AT ALL. IN MY OPINION. WHICH IS THE RIGHT OPINION. OF COURSE. NATURALLY. BECAUSE IT IS SO SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND.

I'd be embarrassed to walk away leaving a great mess. Crumbs are one thing.
I'd also be embarrassed if any of my kids (6,4,2) were throwing chips around in a restaurant.

AND NOW I SHALL HEAD TO BED AND LEAVE YOU TO IMAGINE FURTHER NONSENSICAL TABLE CLEARING RELATED SCENARIOS.

Goodnight.

Child throws food on floor and makes mess ....
Before leaving....pick up and bin it or leave it on table on a plate.

Personally wouldn't even register with me. Id just do it.

It's nothing to do with having bloody cleaning materials....
Stacking crockery in anyone's face or anything else.

Always clean up after yourself and your kids! Have taught my dc this too

Or maybe sirChen,just teach your kids that it is not acceptable behaviour?

Maybe it'd be better described as tidying rather than cleaning? In the same way you would tidy before the cleaner comes so that they can get on with the actual cleaning?

It was a restaurant. I have explained why I feel this is different to a cafe.

I don't have a regular cleaner because I could neither afford one, or arrange times for everyone to be out of their way whilst they work.

I do, every now and then rope a friend who cleans in to do all of things that I never seem to find time to do or care about like picture rails, high Windows.
I do not clean before the cleaner, I do however make sure that the area is clear enough for her to do her job, I move piles of clothes, throw toys into the playroom.

I would compare that to the restaurant situation to be honest, but I'll probably be made out to be crucifying myself/polishing halo etc.

I think that anyone who wants a cleaner and can afford it, should.

Waiters are not paid to clean a restaurant. They are paid, primarily to serve food.
If I clean an area, I don't stand there waiting for a sticker, I leave, it's not for any kind of affirmation. It's because I feel that it's an appropriate action to take.

In fact just had lunch out with DS (8mo) and I clear napkins and DS's leftovers off the table, get as much off the floor as possible and wipe his highchair down. I might stack plates if time. I do it because it's our mess.

I'll admit my DS is a thrower, not just of food, of everything. And yes we are trying to nip it in the bud!

I resent the fact I should never eat out with him though, he's not very good at communicating/understanding yet.

We just remove everything out of his reach that he can throw! And if he does throw anything it gets picked up! I'd prefer to to do this then never to eat out!

Manners isn't just about cleaning your stuff up when your done. Its about behaving appropriately in the place you are in. I'd be aghast at someone in a rated restaurant on their hands and knees picking up food from the floor. It just isn't the done thing whereas in Mcdonalds I'd think nothing of it.

As to the plate stacking. Top tip. If your plates came on a tray assume you can stack them up on the tray. If they didn't leave them to your waitress but leave them tidy! but don't pile used napkins on top of cutlery. IME they always stuck and it slowed me down pulling them off. If they were on a separate plate I could scrape them in the bin easier

Not only do I clean up after my toddler, I clear up after myself too. All plates and glasses neatly stacked up ready for removal.

Hilarious!

This reminds me of one occasion when after a baby group my friend and I went out for lunch and another random mum from the group (who we didn't really know) joined us.

Her baby must have been about eight or nine months. She harped on and on about how wonderful little Tarquin was with his eating, how successful baby led weaning had been for them etc.

The high chairs were those ones without the trays, that pull right up to the table. She opened her bag, took out a jar of baby food, and simply emptied it straight into the table in front of her son!!!

He played with it, smeared it EVERYWHERE (apart from his mouth) while she ate her lunch and pretended it wasn't happening. My friend and I were like

Particularly at the end when she got up, wiped his hands and face with a baby wipe and sauntered off, leaving the mess behind her!!

I do and nearly always get told not to by lovely staff.

Pick up big bits and larger tip than usual. I assume most wait staff would appreciate a larger tip than half hearted attempts to clean up.

Wouldn't let my kid fling food around though! Accidental spillage and messy eating are par for the course but it's not the place to play with food

As someone who worked in a restaurant to get through college, I didn't mind if someone left a bomb site after themselves.

They were in there to eat, and if that meant leaving food, whether it was on their plates, the table or the floor, it didn't bother me in the slightest, so long as they paid and they left a tip.

I would under no circumstances expect someone to crawl about and pick up their food. For one thing it's a health and safety issue if they're on the floor, and for another, I would be happier to absolutely know that the food was all collected, and that means they restaurant staff who are trained to clean should do it.

Enjoy your meals out and please don't clean up after yourselves- that's the restaurant staffs' job. They really don't want you to clean either- you aren't trained to do it properly, and can injure yourselves or others scrambling under the tables.

Just remember to tip handsomely!

No wonder everything is going to the dogs.

I despair.

Of course you should clean up. Bil and Sil never do and it's embarrassing. Their ds is a food chucker, so the floor of the restaurant is just coated. It's unfair to leave it all to the staff.

I make an effort to clean up after my dgd, but she tends to spill rice all over the place, how do people clean the floor in the restaurant? I, for one, do not have the equipment with me for washing the floor.