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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to let my son lick the table in a restaurant?

64 replies

JellyShoesCrabStick · 16/11/2008 14:17

Went on a picnic with some old friends I haven't seen for a while. Weather forced us indoors to a restaurant. Was staying away from home so wasn't very organised with bibs and wipes and stuff. All a bit of a jumble.

Ds is 2. He spilt a bit of his drink on the table and licked it up. I told him it wasn't nice to lick the table and he said he wasn't ds, he was a cat and cats do lick the table. Made me laugh, and by that time it was all over anyway.

I know it's not desired behaviour, but is it really that terrible? All my friends have since refered back to it in a jokey but horrified way and from what one of them said, they were obviously discussing it after I left. I don't think it's that bad, and preferable to a cross toddler and a big fuss in a crowded restaurant. Am I way off here?

OP posts:
hercules1 · 16/11/2008 14:18

Sorry, I'd have picked him up so he couldnt do it.

Tortington · 16/11/2008 14:19

fine

compo · 16/11/2008 14:19

yanbu
were your friends childles?

compo · 16/11/2008 14:19

as in was he the only child there?

morningpaper · 16/11/2008 14:20

yuck I wouldn't but I have relatives that gag at breaches of table manners so I have to be a bit anal about them because otherwise we won't ever get invited anywhere

SecondMrsDeWinterWonderland · 16/11/2008 14:21

Your friends need to get a grip!! It's not like he licked a dogs arse! It's a table ffs - So - no I don't think yabu. Ds is right, cats do infact lick tables so should be commended on his very smart observation

AbbaFan · 16/11/2008 14:21

tis a tad gross. however I wouldn't of cared that much to refer back to it.

BouncingTurtle · 16/11/2008 14:46

Crikey - wonder how they would have reacted if your ds had eaten a snail/cat food/spider etc., that have been reported by mums of toddlers on here
Your ds sounds cute, btw

juneybean · 16/11/2008 14:48

lol i licked a table once and my tongue went numb from the anti-bac they use on it

cheshirekitty · 16/11/2008 15:45

Think it is a bit gross tbh. Hope they clean the tables after use properly. Would not like to eat off a table full of anyone elses saliva.

cornsilk · 16/11/2008 15:59

That's the kind of thing my ds's did. Made me cringe but not a big deal.

findtheriver · 16/11/2008 16:03

Not a major thing but still not nice. I would have stopped any of mine if they did it.

belgo · 16/11/2008 16:08

gross. I wouldn't let my children do that in a restaurant, I'm trying to teach them restaurant manners.

I might let them off if they did it at home though.

Pheebe · 16/11/2008 16:12

Utterly disgusting, I wouldn't let mine do it at home or public!

Waltzywotzy · 16/11/2008 16:18

Worse things could happen and as you say, he knew for a boy it was not right but for a cat it would be OK! He is only 2. And I agree, it was only a simple thing and really no need to make a huge fuss and ruin the meal, day, fun you were all having. Your friends need to get a life and talk about something else.

BreevandercampLGJ · 16/11/2008 16:25
hecate · 16/11/2008 16:29

oh god, when I think of all the things my kids have licked/sucked/swallowed (including cat litter, slugs, snails, mud...) a quick lick of a table seems like a perfectly acceptable choice of pudding.

It's on my big long list of Things I Don't Give A Shit About.

(Although I would have given it a wipe with a baby wipe if it wasn't MY table. If it WAS my table, saliva on it would be the least of its problems....)

bozza · 16/11/2008 16:33

Just one of those things that happen. Quite amusing, would have told him not to do it then forgotten about it.

shivermetimbers · 16/11/2008 16:45

Ew, it would certainly have put me off my food if i had been there.

JellyShoeCrabStick · 16/11/2008 16:47

Mixed reactions then. At least I'm not universally U.

I didn't really let him do it. He just did it and then it was over. I didn't get cross with him for doing it though - it wasn't the time or the place to get cross imo, plus it was quite funny.

He wasn't the only child there - 4 other children of a siilar age. None of them licked any furniture at any point .

I often find myself on the wrong end of some Judgement re ds's behaviour from friends, and I often find myself wondering what all the fuss is about. Sometimes I think I must be in the wrong because they all agree and I'm the odd one out. Sometimes I think they need to take the sticks out of their collective arses. Prob a bit of both is true.

For reference, I would tell him not to do this at home, or if we were out by ourselves, or if he kept doing on doing it, or if he weren't a cat.

(Oh, and those of you who are horrified probably don't want to know about the time he licked the cubicle door in a public toilet )

JellyShoeCrabStick · 16/11/2008 16:47

Seriously Shiver - a child briefly licking a table would have put you off your food?

Blondeshavemorefun · 16/11/2008 16:50

its not something generally i would let my charges do - but as you said it was done quickly

so i would just say to him dont do it again

who knows what is on those tables

hecate · 16/11/2008 16:50

HA! You have NO idea, Jelly - a SMILE puts her off her food! You can't smile at her while offering food, seriously. She's a NUT!

shivermetimbers · 16/11/2008 16:51

Oh my god yes.But thats just a personal thing.Someone only has to smile at me whilst im eating and i throw it away cos i think they have fiddled with it.

TheLadyEvenstar · 16/11/2008 16:51

LOLOLOL Good on him.... I remember my dad making us all use our hands to eat when we took my great nan for a meal. She was blind and have arthritis and was unable to use a knife and fork so she used her hands. One of her daughters moaned so dad made us all put our cutlery down and Gt Nan was not uncomfortable then....

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