How do you split the bill when meeting friend with children

[PenguNoodle]

Inspired by another tread about splitting bill when eating out....What do you do if you are meeting a friend with 2 children. We met and split the bill 50/50 however afterwards I felt hard done by having only eaten 1/4 of the food but paid basically double vs what I ate.

I wouldn’t expect a friend to pay for my kids meals!!
You pay for what you ate. Maybe round it up a bit as a nice gesture if you feel like it but you shouldn’t be feeding her kids unless you offered!

Most of my friends would offer a 50:50 split. If there was a children’s menu that was much cheaper than the adult menu I’d probably offer to pay 2/3 for me and my 2 DD.

I always just pay for what I eat and of course my children

I would just pay for mine snd DC meals, I wouldn’t go 50/50 and under pay for my children or pay for someone else’s unless there was a reason it was a treat.

I think it depends if the kids are little and didn't have a proper meal. The way it should go with reasonable friends is that they offer to pay more than half and you then decide to be magnanimous or not, depending on mood/finances.

If the kids are eating and drinking quite a bit then I would suggest getting in first with, "Do you want to deduct the cost of the kids' food and then split it 50/50?" making it clear that you're not paying for them.

Does that usually work out as a fair split??

The kids were 9 and 10 and actually ate more than me. We had sharing plates but because I don't eat dairy I couldn't have everything.

Noted for next time, I don't mind paying a bit more but not double and it was just taken for granted that I would pay half!!!! My fault for not saying something at the time

No way. You pay for your own and she pays for her and the 2 kids otherwise it's totally unfair.

When things are unequal eg one person has kids and one doesn’t, one drinks and one doesn’t, one eats steak and lobster and one likes a salad - it’s best to split the bill by what each person had rather than 50/50.

I wouldn't expect to split the bill when I'm meeting someone with my children. I'd pay for me and the kids and my friend would pay for themselves.

The person with the kids should have paid the bill. You then offer up £10/£20/whatever contribution seems fair.

It may have been a less obvious situation because of the sharing plates.
But you’ve got a tongue in your head! Why didn’t you speak up?

@Testina no need to be rude and harsh. As I said noted for next time