What's the big deal about letting kids watch a couple of videos during a meal out ?

[kittensss]

I've noticed it is SUPER frowned upon here.

What's the big deal if you want to have a longer dinner and keep your kids happy and entertained ?

My kids are good to sit and colour and talk and eat for the first 30 minutes to an hour, but if we want to stay longer than that, they get bored.. fair enough. What's the big deal about letting them watch some stuff on our phones of iPads ?

I know of no one in real life who is as judgy as the parents on here.

We went for a big family lunch recently, the adults wanted to enjoy it a bit longer and out came the phones for the preschoolers to look at for half an hour or so. We were able to enjoy our lunch and took them to the playground after. No harm done.

Or would you rather our entitled ' brats ' ruined your pub lunch ?

I don't get the problem which seems to be coming up here time and time again on so many threads. Do you assume we don't talk to our kids because we let them watch the iPad for a bit during lunch ?

Were they wearing headphones?

Depends if other diners can hear the videos as well or not.

Headphones or on very quietly of course

Yes, depends if the sound was on

So long as I can't hear the ipads, you can do what you like :) I prefer the pads/phones to the children running riot. However, i still think there is a lot to be said for children learning to take part in family life and conversation at the table, but only if the adults are including them

What the others said. Did they wear headphones?

If they're quiet I haven't a problem with it. If you and they are 6 tables away then I definitely do.

There are two types of people who object:

Type 1 are judgey fuckers who like to pontificate about how their darling Charlie sat at the table and discussed UK politics for 3 hour at a time from age 3 so it's really not clear to them why your little Johnny age 5 can't do the same. Ignore them. Still in this camp are people who had options to leave children at home but are befuddled that might not be an option for everyone else.

Type 2 are the ones who are annoyed when children are blasting Peppa Pig or irritating game noises at full volume, screaming and shouting at each other about whose turn it is to play Roblox and generally behaving badly.

I am in the Type 2 camp. A child looking at a phone or tablet quietly, with headphones etc, doesn't bother me in the slightest. But if I can HEAR what they're watching or their yelling is interrupting my meal, I'm going to get annoyed.

The only acceptable answer is headphones or no sound on at all. No one wants to hear Paw Patrol or whatever out loud in a restaurant.

If no sound can be heard then its no different to giving them a colouring book.

I couldn’t care less as long as they have headphones on. Nobody else wants to listen to peppa pig!

Nah we are never loud unless we let them run riot. Not when they have their iPads / phones etc.

You'd think but it's still so frowned upon by parents on here!

Or would you rather our entitled ' brats ' ruined your pub lunch ?

I would rather you left your entitled brats at home

However, if you cant do that, then headphones is fine

"Very quietly" is subjective. Games or videos playing at even a low volume are much more distracting than normal conversation etc.

I think a lot of people who talk about it on here aren’t judging but just saying it’s not what they would do (in the context of a discussion on the subject). Not sure what’s wrong with that. People are too quick to read “I do X” as a judgement on people who do Y.

What do you think parents did before screens? Were you raised with a screen without which you couldn't behave in public?

I'd wonder why the choice is badly behaved kids or screens and why the parents can't raise their kids to behave in public without screens. It's basic manners and they shouldn't be ruining meals out without a screen.

Headphones are a must as human voices are tolerable and expected in public, bloody videos and cartoons are not.

If the choice is screaming toddler or Peppa pig disturbing adults you don't stay that long.

People see something and join up imaginary dots to make a picture of their own invention. Your meal out sounds great. But you can guarantee there are people on here who would look at you and decide you spent every weekend having long boozy lunches while your kids were kept cooped up in doors on screens when you could have been on a ling walk followed by snuggles and hot chocolate.. Just as there are people who see yoir child having an episode of unruly behaviour in a resturant and decide you're a lazy entitled parent with a feral child and no consideration for other diners.

Very quietly is not the same as silent. Children’s media has the most grating sound which I don’t want to hear at any volume.

This 100%.

We were shouted at and smacked if we didn't do as we were told and were terrified of our parents.

I think my kids are pretty good to stay chilled for up to an hour in a restaurant tbh.

Try not asking to your children, interacting, playing games like hangman, boxes, do puzzles. Children were around long before the invention of the smartphone, and speech therapists have documented a rise in speech delays that parallels the rise of the smartphone, whilst on an individual basis it can be hard to draw firm conclusions tk why a child has delays, at a population level it's pretty clear.

Oh and the sound on is very antisocial to others eating, the family next toe at some ghastly squeaky cartoon voice coming from their tablet despite staff telling them to turn the sound off, the entitlement is astounding

"Very quietly" is not okay. It has to be headphones.

Hearing the faint sound of TV/music on someone's phone/ipad in a restaurant or on a train/bus is really fucking annoying, no matter how old they are.

Always, always, use headphones.

"Very quietly" is not quiet enough. Headphones or mute, otherwise it is totally disrespectful to other diners.

As long as they wear headphones I literally
couldn't give a shit what other people let their kids do, I have no desire to listen to it, though.