Eating out with kids?

[Lovingeachday]

How do you find the best way to entertain your children when eating out? I’ve found that I hardly do it now it’s just me and them as they often act up when out.

If there were tablets in the 80s my parents would 100% have used them. I don't think it's a sign of superior parenting that people coped without things that didn't exist.
We don't use screens at the table at home but we do when eating out when my 2 year old just wants to get down and run about and won't quit whinging and asking.

@catmatrat but uno isn't gambling, unless you and your dcs were wagering the contents of your.piggy bank? Cards in public shouldn't be an issue.

I never took stuff to entertain the kids when they were young. If the restaurant was the type to bring a children's menu with activity pads and colouring pencils then we would help the kids complete these but otherwise we would just entertain them by talking to them.

This used to wind my sister in law up and she used to criticise me for forgetting to bring the kids toys etc. One day she actually brought a large bag of those chunky wooden jigsaws and offered them round ( because silly mummy forgot to!) I was so annoyed because then the kids would start making noise while trying to do the jigsaws and would be constantly dropping the pieces on the floor.

It was far more stressful to supervise the playing of toys than it was to just chat to the kids.

Took my DCs on a cruise when they were 6 and 3 and they happily sat through a formal dinner every evening.

We still have a no gadgets at the table rule even though they are 13 and 10 now.

Saying that I do not judge people who give their kids stuff to keep them quiet. They do things their way and we do to

Posted too soon but you get the gist!

For me it's about fitting it I with their routine. Recently we went out for lunch with my parents and my two toddlers. Dd had just finished nursery and ds just woken up from his nap. Despite colouring book, toys, tablet, chips and ice cream, both played up.

It is customary here for children to go out for dinner late at night and we've dreaded it but it's turned out fine if I delay ds' s nap and make sure they're not hungry before we go. That was a restaurant that had special facilities for children though and I think that helped.

We took them for brunch at the weekend and I didn't have anything to distract them and ended up giving dd a magazine and dm took ds for a walk but I couldn't have coped on my own.

I don't go out with mine to eat on my own though and have often felt judged by other parents.

We used to find buffet style restaurants are quite good with children, because there is no wait for food and they can try little bits of everything. They often enjoy going up to choose. Then you can go when you've finished, think "Gobble and go" Horrid Henry style .

Top trumps and similar are quite good with slightly older children and my son with SN will play with these by himself - e.g. he has a set of deadly 60 cards which he sorts into mammals, fish, reptiles etc.

I don't. We only go to the park or town (has to be a quick trip though). He is 2 and as much as I love him, he is a pain in the arse to go out with! Especially for lunch.

AngelsWithSilverWings I do wonder though if your SIL brought puzzles because she didn't want to spend her entire meal chatting with the children.

That's what frustrates me about spending time with my brother and his wife - my nieces are lovely, but they are also 3 and 5 and we do want some time for adult conversation too. Totally different if it's just us and the DC, but to me sometimes it's more polite to bring something if it's not a child-focussed event.

Go to a place where fries, juice or anything else they love to eat is available quickly. iPAD. Bribe for icecream.

We've been taking the kids to cafes since they were babies, and they've always been "trained" (!) to behave in cafes/restaurants etc. I'm pretty easy-going but we spend a lot of time in cafes and the kids have just had to fit in with that.

It used to be that 4 My Little Ponies were ample entertainment before SOMEBODY (hard stare at 9yo DD) decided they were boring and we had to up our game. Exploding Kittens or Uno, books obv., MAYBE kindles if we know it's going to be a long day and there's wifi so they can join each others Minecraft worlds.

If all else fails it's remarkable how much entertainment they can get out of 20 wooden coffee stirrers, especially if we have a couple of markers to draw on them too. One foolish cafe had whole boxes of them on the table recently and they started weaving mats out of them, and then the kids at the table next to us made their parents teach them to weave mats too. Sorry, other parents.

We also find that mopping up a spilt hot chocolate, getting more napkins cloths from the bar, taking the culprit to the bathroom to be washed and cleaned up etc. passes the time very effectively.

Guaranteed though when you were a kid your parents didn't take you out to eat lots. Because no one did. It's a modern thing, taking kids out to eat. Home isn't a restaurant.

You are absolutely right, eating out was a very rare event. However there were occasions when you ate away from home.

Every year we had a holiday, usually in a boarding house at the seaside, which meant that you sat down in the dining room to eat your meals at the same time as all the other families who were staying. My mother would have been mortified if any of us had misbehaved at meal times or made a fuss of any kind.

If we were asked to eat at a friends house then, once again, we were expected to show we knew how to behave at the table.

Engage with your children, make them part of the conversation. Too many parents want something or someone else to entertain their children for them. If we took our children out when they were young, we would include then in the conversation and talk about all sorts, they never left the table, never had a toy at the table and never kicked up a fuss. I know that sounds braggy but I see kids in restaurants now and i feel braggy tbh.

Oh yes we stayed at a B&B for 2 weeks where. We ate in a communal dining room - I remember it as being hellish - we were expected to behave to the highest standards and we did! Miserable bloody holiday!

6 & 8 - I'll let them choose a couple of things to bring and it's usually pack of cards, or Uno. ALWAYS Paper and colouring pens. Or whatever bit of tat is their favourite at the moment - Lego figures, Shopkins.
We also often take their homeworking books, they usually have a drawing they need to do or write out some spellings and it's a good way to get it out of the way of they're in the mood.
We don't do phones or iPADs. I HATE seeing kids on those at a table even if it's a long Sunday lunch. If you can't get through a single meal as a family what hope is there!
The good thing about pens, paper, cards etc. is that they're interactive and something that we're all taking part in together.
We have no-tolerance for noisy, bad behaviour at the table, they sit and they eat or play or we leave so they generally do stay in one place. No running around or crawling under the table etc.

Also - choose your venue carefully! It's no fun for the kids if they're at some white table cloth place with some old geezer giving them evils for having toys on the table or for laughing or chatting 'loudly'

My daughter will sit still at the dining table, wait patiently for her food and has impeccable table manners. This is entirely my doing. I have taught her how to behave in such situations.

My other two are a pain in the arse and no amount of engaging conversations or sticker books make a blind bit of difference.

You win some, you lose some.

Wine helps.

Gromance02 You sound like a thoroughly unpleasant cunt who hates children. I'd much rather listen to nursery rhymes than you & your 'friends' inane self-important blather.

Lager usually does the trick for mine (17). When he was younger, colouring was good, and he's always liked going out for food. However, I was lucky in that he was quite good at sitting still for a reasonable amount of time. If he had been a pain in the arse I probably wouldn't have taken him.