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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:
shivermetimbers · 16/11/2008 16:52

your blooming fault Hecate.

hecate · 16/11/2008 16:52

ha. Hows THAT for a x-post, eh? eh?

shivermetimbers · 16/11/2008 16:54

You are stalking me.

hecate · 16/11/2008 16:55

you sound surprised

Libra1975 · 16/11/2008 16:57

He is 2. He licked a table. Big Deal. I think your friends need to relax and I agree with your stick out of arse comment.

princessmel · 16/11/2008 16:59

Not a big deal atall. dd licked the mirror in Next today. That is gross!

Lovesdogsandcats · 16/11/2008 17:08

I think it is disgusting because I would be horrified at the possible remnants of other people's dinners or worse, stuck and dried on to the table, that his spilt drink then softened and allowed to float around in spilt drink...which he might then be licking up and swallowing..

Ok, I am slightly obsessive about cleanliness in pubs/restaurants/etc.

edam · 16/11/2008 17:12

Love his thinking about being a cat. Very clever. Other parents probably jealous that their children aren't as quick thinking.

It is a bit gross but that's what toddlers like doing. Yucky stuff.

Libra1975 · 16/11/2008 17:27

I was at the HV clinic on Thursday and there was a dad there whose 7-8monthish old was licking the floor. Apparently it's his favourite hobby. The child is going to have the best immune system ever.

glaskhamhasoneintheoven · 16/11/2008 17:37

My DS is coming up for 4yo and still licks the condensation off the bus window if i dont watch him like a hawk!! He says its water and he likes it because its cold!! The amount of times i've caught him mid-lick is rediculous.

Your DS is only 2 fgs!! He's very clever too!! My DD likes to pretend she's a cat or a dog but has never licked a table yet... wouldn't bother me too much if she did, i'd just explain it was dirty to lick the table, give it a wipe clean and that would be the end of it.

Your friends sound very judgemental of a 2yo's behaviour!!

JiminyCricket · 16/11/2008 17:46

dd1 once stuck her finger in a bit of brown chocolatey looking pigeon poo on a deckchair in the park and licked it (at the height of bird flu scare i might add), kids are gross. And friends like to laugh at each other and judge each other, its all normal. 2 yo aren't supposed to have perfect table manners and tellings off need to be proportionate and the same at home and in public imo (have friend whose child very anxious about getting messy etc - never seen her told off in public, but think they are quite strict with her at home).

MadamAnt · 16/11/2008 17:52

Erm... the child in question is two. I'd have been chuffed that he hadn't actually licked one of the friends.

Littleladyloulou · 16/11/2008 18:05

Can see it was sort of cute but would have told him not to do it as TBH it isn't something I would want to be made a habit of - hence would discourage rather than accept it.

The imagination is good but honestly, who wants their DC to actually lick a table?!

Why not play "pretend" cats/licking instead.

CoteDAzur · 16/11/2008 18:11

It is gross and I would be surprised to see a mother laughing about her child licking a table in a restaurant. Sorry.

avaTsar · 16/11/2008 18:13

Er..no to licking tables here too.

chopchopbusybusy · 16/11/2008 18:15

I can't really give much of a toss about table manners. Elbows on tables, using just a fork or eating with fingers but I'm a bit like lovesdogsandcats and I would have felt positively queasy.

TheLadyEvenstar · 16/11/2008 21:56

He is 2 how many table manners should he be expected to have fgs. ds2 (14m) eats well as long as I let him use his hands so I do regardless of where we are..... time for manners and discipline later I am going to enjoy him being a baby and cute and funny....

Lazycow · 16/11/2008 22:19

I wouldn't have batted an eyelid if ds did this, In fact he is 3.11 and was chewing the end of a table in a restaurant today. I did get him to stop doing this but more because others would object to the bad manners than any ideas about hygiene.

Ds was a very mouthy baby and remains a very oral child. Most things go in his mouth at some point. In fact i remember him putting a used mop in his mouth when he was 16 months old. It was an outside mop used to clean the patio at my parent's house.

Now that DID make me gag and panic slightly when I saw him. It didn't seem to do him any appreciable harm though so licking/biting tables is frankly risible compared to that.

I also remember the mother of a very un-oral 2 year old looking on in bemusement as the crayons she kindly offered ds (2 yrs old) for him to draw with were systematically eaten and spat out.

chopchopbusybusy · 17/11/2008 09:37

ladyevenstar, if your reply was directed to me then please re read my post. I pointed out that I am not interested in table manners, but licking the table was a no mainly because it would make me feel a bit sick.

claw3 · 17/11/2008 09:44

LOL if thats the worst he ever licks your laughing!!

Perfectly naturally for children that age to experiment with putting stuff in their mouths etc. My son has licked the cat before, let alone acting like a cat

claw3 · 17/11/2008 09:55

When my ds learnt he could direct his wee, no one was safe, up my back in the bath and dont mention the cat!!shock, horror

If your ds is still licking tables when he is 18, then start to worry

TheLadyEvenstar · 17/11/2008 09:56

chopchopbusybusy, No it was a general comment

AmIWhatAndWhy · 17/11/2008 10:09

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1P3Wc-37pC4

Windowlicker.

I can't imagine giving a rats ass what a toddler, mine or a friends, does. They do all sorts of horrible things.

Dreyfus · 17/11/2008 10:16

Absolutely not a problem. 2-year-olds do all sorts of strange yet harmless things, he won't be doing it when he's 11, or even 8. Change the subject if friends mention it again, in a sort of exasperated, understated, rolly-eyed way - then move swiftly on.

CoteDAzur · 17/11/2008 15:11

It is not bizarre that a 2 yr old would want to lick a drink off a table in a restaurant.

It is bizarre that his mum would not say "No" to him, and instead sit back and laugh.

Obviously, OP's friends agree with me on this.