It's a cafe, not a creche so leave your brats at home.

[MmeLindt]

I don't really read the DM of coursel

Lovely article.

Ok, I hate it when DC are allowed to rampage around a restaurant or cafe, but I do hope I never sound so smug and judgy as this journalist.

bugger

Oh deary me, not ANOTHER one of these columns? Has the world run out of stories? Even the New Statesman has published its own version of this well worn cliche recently. Tut tut tut.

I work as a nanny and agree that I hate it when you go out to a coffee shop and you have children being noisy, running about and you can hardly hear. I look after a 2 year old and if he behaved like that we would leave.

AIBU to be annoyed at the fact that the newspapers give this kind of story to mothers so that they can say 'You see, even other mothers think that this is terrible'.

Presumably her 6yo has never had a temper tantrum in his life and is always perfectly behaved.

I agree Bibbity, these articles are getting tiresome. Have newspapers actually given up reporting news?

I couldn't finish reading this drivel. I don't let my DCs run round cafes/restaurants (IMO it is dangerous) and I don't know any other mums that do either. Once again it is a small minority who are giving us all a bad name.

God they don't half exaggerate in that paper. Everything is whipped up into a frenzy to make it newsworthy.

Children must, of course, be seen and not heard.

actually i do agree, but without the sneery vitriol of this piece. In my town there are whole cafes which are a no-go area if you don't have a child with you.
When my dc were small, We used to have a costa which provided a small basket of toys for toddlers. I often popped in for a cuppa with the baby after dropping the other child at nursery. But the toys got taken away after 8 months or so because people let their toddler run riot, and I mean, toddlers were completely ignored. The place was left a battle zone, with toys everywhere, and stuff smeared all over the big plate glass windows, And some mums used to sit there for hours over 1 cup, while demanding free glasses of milk for their toddlers.
I used to talk to the baristas about it and I couldn't believe how some mums behaved.

i agree too.

i have experienced bored, ignored children crawling under our table, barging into the backs of our chairs, running around shrieking at the top of their lungs all whilst their parents sit there pretending they don't exist!

not only is it really bloody annoying it's very dangerous for the waiting staff.

i manage to keep 21mo ds quiet (most of the time) in his chair while we have a pizza, if he gets bored or shitty one of us takes him outside for a walk or we get a doggy bag and leave early. it's just consideration for others.

yy, sometimes you do actually have to give it up as a bad job and LEAVE!

It'snot the norm though is it?

Ican only think of one or two cases of this, in all truth.

I never let my boys run around when out,I do get sneers because I am up and down with ds3 but he has His Reasons (and then its an accompanied toilet trip every ten mninutes, not a full on assault on the salad bar).

I don't know where these Yummy Mummies cafe places are, not around here though (and neitehr is the Mums and toddler group she suggests unless you sit on a waiting list or are cliquey enough to be invited to the village one (I am not))

yes I'm sure we've all seen it somewhere. But generally for every brat running around I see 10 other children sitting behaving.

There are a couple of cafes around where I live that are packed full of toddlers/babies/buggies/Mums.

They all have plate glass windows so you can see that. If you want a quiet coffee, then don't go in, it isn't going to happen.

I haven't experienced any kids running around them, but there is the occasional wandering toddler who is rounded up quick IME. I don't mind the general noise caused by lots of little kids so am quite happy to be there.

There are also a couple of cafes around that are not quite so child friendly and sometimes I go there if I want to sit quietly and have a coffee.

This really isn't a problem, is it?

Exactly. I have seen this but not all the time.

My cousin has a child friendly cafe (with children's hairdresser) and it is fab. Even there, where they cater for DC and actively encourage Mums with DC I have never seen DC rampaging.

And I can agree that it is Not On to let children run around without being so nasty and spiteful as the journalist is.

Us mums can never do right, can we?

I had to leave John Lewis cafe yesterday because DD (15mo) wouldn't stop screaming. She's normally great sitting in her highchair and snacking when out, but she's recently started walking and it's all she wants to do.

I bet a few people were not happy with the noise she was making, but I genuinely didn't expect her to kick off.

I would never ignore my child or let my toddler run riot in a cafe though.

A friend recently sent me a photo of a brilliant sign in a cafe. It said: "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy".

They should supply cages for us to lock our children up in. Then we can all enjoy our coffee in relative peace.

I think she has a point!

It's funny though, I actively seek out places like Starbuck's and the Harvester because someone else's kids are always behaving worse than mine and I don't feel self-conscious.

I don't think she wrote the article very well though, or at least the title "leave your kids at home"

Fine to make the point that some children need to behave better in public, but to suggest that children shouldn't be allowed out to cafes. FGS, it's only Starbuck's, it ain't Le Manoir De Quatre Saisons!

Can I saw that the Mail are paying approx 1.5k for this sort of thing at the mo?

Frankly I would probably say it too for that sort of wonga

I see her point actually. Bad behaviour is bad behaviour regardless of the age of the culprit. But isn't this the same paper that doesn't like mothers going out to work? So presumably that means that proper mothers should stay safely in the confines of their own homes or in the m&t groups she mentions. Nice

I didn't bother reading the article because, well, it's the Mail, also I'm ill already and frankly could do without the stress. But generally I agree with people here - badly behaved, unsupervised children are as unwelcome as badly behaved, unsupervised adults, and thankfully as much in the minority in the cafes round my way.

i dont think it matters if you are at the ritz or in burger king tbh, an unsupervised badly behaved child is a pain in the arse

It's true lou. But then so are (for example) loudmouthed, braying, offensive arseholes in suits who spout ignorant shite about chavs and sexually intimidate young women, and I don't see the Mail churning out articles about them.