One of the most annoying examples of a child with behavior problems and a parent who’s in denial, or just plain doesn’t care, occurs at restaurants. Whether you have children or not, no one wants to go out to a restaurant and listen to someone else’s kid scream the entire time.
Just this past weekend my boyfriend and I went out to dinner at a chain restaurant, one that places an emphasis on adult things like happy
hour specials and a large cocktail menu. I had the pleasure of sitting directly in front of a young child who seemed to genuinely enjoy hearing himself scream. There appeared to be nothing wrong with this kid, he was just screaming because he was kind of an a*#hole. Although we were sitting at a tiny little two person table, at times I had trouble hearing my boyfriend talk over this shrieking demon of a child.
The real offender in this situation was not the devil child, but the devil child’s parents. Sure, maybe they’re immue to their child’s shrieking, but they need to understand that the rest of the restaurant is not. Nor should they be. Maybe the kid has just as little interest in spending his evening in an adult restaurant, as the rest of the patrons have in listening to him squak. He wants to go to Chuckie Cheese, or some equally enticing child wonderland where he can run around screaming like a little barbarian. This is understandable. Some kids are well-behaved adults at heart, others are not. If you’re a parent, you know which category your child fits into.
Therefore parents, if you know that your child has behavior problems, don’t take him out to an adult restaurant. Get a babysitter, order in, or put a muzzle on your kid; but don’t let him ruin what would otherwise be a perfectly nice dinner for the complete strangers in the room with you.
Read this fantastic story, “Monroeville Restaurant Bans Kids Under Age 6,” in the Pine-Richland Patch from a mother who really gets it.