Re children in restaurant

[Arbesque]

Four of us booked a table in an expensive restaurant last night for 7.30.
About 10 minutes after we'd sat down a couple came in pushing a buggy and with 2 other children in tow. They were seated at the table beside us.
One child kept bashing his spoon off the table, another kept crawling along the wide windowsill so that he was right behind my head, and the baby was kept amused by the father playing peek a boo while she screamed excitedly. This went on and on.

We asked to be moved to another table. There were none available.Then the baby started crying loudly and the toddler got tired and cranky and joined the wailing.

We left without dessert and complained on the way out. They knocked the price of a bottle of wine off our bill.

AIBU to think expensive restaurants, charging a fortune, should have a policy for dealing with situations like this?

We paid a lot of money for a meal we couldn't enjoy.

Stalking other posters is inappropriate.

I think I'd have left when that child started crawling down the windowsill and behind my head and the parents didn't stop him doing it.

I did think it was a bit extreme!

No, I’d not expect that either, but some people on here seem to have a very strange idea about who should be able to eat in which sort of restaurants. If my children are able to behave themselves, and if I thought that they would enjoy the food then there’s no reason not to take them along to even the very best restaurants.

If you are paying so much that you need everything to be perfect then you are going to be disappointed by the slightest issue.

I must have missed the part where OP said she wanted it to be perfect. Expecting parents to actually parent their children is not wanting it to be perfect.

Eh I started a thread about noisy renovations. I certainly didn't start the other one.
Perhaps you'd like to apologise?

That is bullshit. Also just back from Italy and we took our 4 under 9’s to a fancy restaurant. We were glared at by the waiting staff and a few other punters. Our kids were quiet and seated and made zero child noise thank god because it was clearly unacceptable.

We also went to plenty of pricy to midrange places in touristy areas and I never saw any kids messing and climbing about. And mine wouldn’t have been allowed either.

small children who cannot keep quiet and in their seat are welcome in many restaurants but absolutely should not be brought to certain ones that are simply not suitable and where they destroy the comfort of others.

This thread is batshit.

YANBU @Arbesque. If a toddler had been crawling behind DH’s or DS1’s head, they’d have been brought down, given to their parents and told not to do it again. I couldn’t lift them down, so I’d get DH to do it for me. I’m not sitting there waiting for Arlo to want to make a move. He shouldn’t be there in the first place and his ineffectual parents should grow a backbone and start parenting.

Children don’t learn table manners in restaurants, that starts at home. If you let them bang cutlery on the table at home, they will do it when out. It’s not rocket science. The vast majority of children are well behaved, it’s the select few who spoil it for everyone else.

What other threads?

It's odd that you are stalking someone else's threads.

Anyway, the question is whether OP is bu in the situation currently being discussed.

No, I wont bother thanks, I don't feel the need to stalk the OP

I appear to be getting confused with another poster on here.

Kids make noise, that's a given and I appreciate and accept that. Mu kids were tiny once. What I find really annoying is when kids are allowed wander to your table, climb under, climbing on top of chairs, dropping things over the seats so you have to keep handing it back. By all means let your kids make all the kid noises in the world but just keep them away from my table and let me eat my meal in peace. Some parents think it is endearing when their little offspring engage with the other punters, I don't. Please keep them at your table and not running around wrecking everyone else's eating experience. The noise cannot be helped, kids gristle and cry and get bored but it is the parents job to stop them physically tormenting other customers.

Would partially solve the problem though!

I've been on here a few weeks. I started one thread about noisy renovations

My other threads have been about:

Location location location
Grease
Baby names

I can't think of any others.

It's impossible to say without actually being there.

Some people are miserable sods who will moan about kids no matter what.

Some parents let their kinds run riot then swear blind their kids are behaviour is fine.

Whi can we tell which is which on the basis of just hearing one side?

I agree Op. It's fine to take kids out if they are reasonably well-behaved. Banging the table, screaming and a toddler crawling behind you is NOT well behaved. It is disrespectful to the other diners and to the serving staff. I have young great nephews and nieces who can be boisterous, but if they don't behave they get taken home.

If you have kids, keep them under reasonable control so they don't annoy other people. Or don't take them.

Exactly this. Plus, in my part of Spain anyway, if a child misbehaves in a restaurant - or in fact anywhere - they will more than likely get reprimanded by a complete stranger - something that I think is increasingly rare in the UK.

No excuse for letting your children disturb other people's enjoyment. So rude.

It is good for children to learn how to behave properly & eat proper food not beige crap.

We always had quiet stuff to entertain DS, made sure his food came with our starter so he wasn't waiting too long & one of us would take him outside if he became upset. Hardly difficult.

Are you the only user AS/search on username works for? Because it hasn't worked properly since The Big MN Upgrade. I had a workaround but that seems to have disappeared now.

So how are you getting AS/username to work? Do tell, because lots of us want to use it as we once did.

To paraphrase the great Dogbert: "And this affects you how?"

You're being weird doubling down on this with the OP.

Lots of us object to unruly kids in restaurants. Parents need to parent.