Whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed. A nation of child haters.

ILW

Orpheo wrote: »

http://www.loves-restaurant.co.uk/

It was a Tuesday evening, around 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Lovely evening.

Additionally, in Lincoln, where I live, there are at least two pub-restaurant type places (pub food prices) that do not accept children. There are many places that do accept children, but I have a choice if I want a child free meal.

It would be great if pubs and restaurants put a sign in the window stating whether children were allowed or not
But I was not complaining about children as such, just the attitude of some parents which is "all children are like it so why should I be expected to do anything about it".

Long_tall_sally

I do believe that children misbehaving in a restaurant should be told off but give the parents a chance to do that. A few years ago in abusy shopping centre I was struggling to find somewhere where I could take my then very young son that served some gluten free food that he would be likely to eat. No sooner had we sat down & been handed the menu, did he start having a massive tamptrum. As he has had type 1 diabetes since he was 16 months old, I immediately reached for his blood glucose monitor to test his sugar levels which turned out to be low. As I was trying to find my small pot of jam that I always carried around in my handbag & trying to calm him down at the same time, a very rude lady came over to tell me that my son was disturbing her meal & could I take him out. This really upset me because a) we had only just got into the restaurant & b)I was trying to calm him down even though I was rather stressed about his sugar levels & wanted to be able to order the food asap. So yes, the people in the restaurant had to put up with him until the sugar got into his system & his mood improved & I could order his food in the meantime. The rest of the meal he was fine. Have some tolerance & patience please.

Generali

ILW wrote: »

It would be great if pubs and restaurants put a sign in the window stating whether children were allowed or not
But I was not complaining about children as such, just the attitude of some parents which is "all children are like it so why should I be expected to do anything about it".

Part of the problem I think is that in the UK you're meant to bite your tongue if someone else's kids are misbehaving. Over here I'd have no problem gently restraining a child running round a restaurant and telling him or her to sit down, even if I didn't know the child or the parents. It's just normal.

As a man in the UK, you are often made to feel very uncomfortable if you touch someone else's kids.

Long_tall_sally

Sorry, also meant to say that I have been to a pub where there were two very noisy children caused by the mother incessantly tickling them. This I believe was unacceptable because it was the adult who was causing the children to scream so much & whilst the kids were just being kids & it might have been lovely to watch at another time, OH & I had come out for a child free meal. Nethertheless it was a family friendly pub so perhaps we should have chosen somewhere different. We just got up & moved to a different part of the pub & then had a good meal.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

Part of the problem I think is that in the UK you're meant to bite your tongue if someone else's kids are misbehaving. Over here I'd have no problem gently restraining a child running round a restaurant and telling him or her to sit down, even if I didn't know the child or the parents. It's just normal.

As a man in the UK, you are often made to feel very uncomfortable if you touch someone else's kids.

sheesh, you just did to me what I just did to LJ. :rotfl: That's what my long post was all about.


People also can be weird about receiving compliments about their kids, its lovely when someone is pleased you've noticed their quiet little mite is being polite, holding a door open or something.

ninky_2

lostinrates wrote: »

As I've said before I LIKE having kids about when eating out.

i agree and disagree. i think it's good to have child-friendly places and also some adult only spaces. there are times, for example, when you want to swear, talk about things that aren't suitable for children to hear or have a romantic evening out and that's just not compatible with with having loads of children around.

me and OH went for brunch last sunday. thought we'd found a nice quiet restaurant, sat down and ordered - then the buggies started coming in. literally there were about 20 (going in and out) in the space of half an hour. the children were jumping all over the place, people constantly opening and closing the door (letting cold air in on us as we were unfortunately near the door as we were eating), screaming and running about. not only this but to counter the noise the adult parents also seemed to be having louder than usual conversations (is this something that comes with parenthood?).

we just laughed as it was so far from the quiet sunday brunch we'd been looking forward to - but i think it does show different people have different priorities and it would be nice if both could somehow be catered for.

similarly went to the science museum recently - most of which now seems aimed at school children or younger as does the natural history museum. it might be nice to have some more advanced sections and not gear it all to "young minds" and push-chairs.

tyllwyd

ninky wrote: »

... me and OH went for brunch last sunday. thought we'd found a nice quiet restaurant, sat down and ordered - then the buggies started coming in. literally there were about 20 (going in and out) in the space of half an hour. the children were jumping all over the place, people constantly opening and closing the door (letting cold air in on us as we were unfortunately near the door as we were eating), screaming and running about. not only this but to counter the noise the adult parents also seemed to be having louder than usual conversations (is this something that comes with parenthood?). ...

Its not really fair to blame children for your poor choice of restaurant - you could have said the same thing if a coach party of pensioners had arrived with zimmer frames, or a party of ramblers with large rucksacks, or a party of adult wheelchair users ...

DKLS

toby3000 wrote: »

I think the OP proves exactly WHY those of us with no interest in children find parents and their offspring so annoying.

We don't care about your parenting. We don't care about your children. What they have done is of zero interest to me. I will never find your daughter interesting or worthwhile to talk to.

I don't care that 'all children have tantrums'. If your child isn't able to behave in public then don't bring it to the shops where I will have to listen to it and dodge it and its mother with its massive buggy. I don't wish to watch you breast-feed when I'm drinking my coffee. I don't want to hear it screaming on my bus ride home. Until children are suitably socialised they shouldn't be inflicted on the rest of us in shops/restaurants/pubs/public transport.

Well said that man, I stopped going to the cinema, due to ineffective parents being unable to teach their kids to !!!!!!, and I bought a projector instead. But equally I have lost count of meals out that have been ruined due to some screaming brat, I wouldnt have dared behave like some of the kids behave.

I was with my mum at the garden centre cafe last sunday and 3 kids were running wild, sheiking and squealing, when one of them crashed into a pensioner, I approached the parents, half expecting a stereotypical chav I was shocked to find 3 middle class mothers having tea and cake, one them advised that her little johhny was just expressing himself :mad: so I expressed myself by complaining to the restaurant manager and they were asked to either control their children or leave.

lostinrates

ninky wrote: »

i agree and disagree. i think it's good to have child-friendly places and also some adult only spaces. there are times, for example, when you want to swear, talk about things that aren't suitable for children to hear or have a romantic evening out and that's just not compatible with with having loads of children around.

I don't know where you are in London but friends keep raving about the boat brunch..at Little Venice. Apparently its worth a trek...they want me to get down for one!

I tend to think of proper pubs as ''adult spaces'' and while I don't get annoyed with children I do feel sorry for them and a bit annoyed with their parents. Not lunch pubs, but evenings/afternoons. Bars. I have to admit I'm not really put of being romantic by kids anymore than I am by other people.....I think its kind of good for children to see respectful and ...within reason, adult affection...i.e. kissing, hand holding etc....anything that I'd do at a table above the table cloth. Real world and socially aceptable standards...or the child's own adults saying ''wow, they should get a room'' itself might be a useful tool for the child to understand what is ''socially acceptable'' and what is not.

I guess as a kid I heard stuff at tables that prepared me for adult world...politics, culture...how to disagree with friends vehemently, then our wine and break bread, and discuss stuff...perhaps that's one of those valuable experiences of my lucky life? That certainly included colourful language and some ''alcohol rouge'' again, within limits...certainly within the limit of what I think is considered decent in a pubic place with anyone your don't know.

Generali

DKLS wrote: »

Well said that man, I stopped going to the cinema, due to ineffective parents being unable to teach their kids to !!!!!!, and I bought a projector instead. But equally I have lost count of meals out that have been ruined due to some screaming brat, I wouldnt have dared behave like some of the kids behave.

I was with my mum at the garden centre cafe last sunday and 3 kids were running wild, sheiking and squealing, when one of them crashed into a pensioner, I approached the parents, half expecting a stereotypical chav I was shocked to find 3 middle class mothers having tea and cake, one them advised that her little johhny was just expressing himself :mad: so I expressed myself by complaining to the restaurant manager and they were asked to either control their children or leave.

The many people in the UK with your attitudes (kids are 'brats') are the reason that I feel blessed to live 10,000 miles away from you and people like you.