Guest Author - Kim Kenney

In light of the recent movement for “child free” sections in restaurants, I asked you to share your experiences with noisy kids in restaurants. Here’s some of what you said:

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NEW!!

Just had a terrible experience last night at a $20/plate place known for
being a serene escape. This was another meal ruined in a long string of
brat-filled dining experiences at nicer places.
Someone, and that could be me, should print cards people could hand to
offensive parents outlining proper dining/parenting etiquette. My heart
warms to the thought of irresponsible parents being deluged with cards
slipped on their tables by multitudes of offended diners. I really think
they're clueless. The attitude seems to be that they want a nice night
out, and they don't want to have to pay attention to their kids. Ahem!
As if we don't want a nice night out without having to pay attention to
their kids, too! Can you spell b-a-b-y-s-i-t-t-e-r?

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We went out one evening to a nice local Chinese restaurant. There
were 5 of us, so we were seated at a large round table by the pass
from the front to the rear of the restaurant, near the hallway that
led to the restrooms. Another large group was seated near us with
their accompanying children. As the evening went on, eventually the
kids got bored and began to leave their seats and move around the
restaurant. Eventually one of them, a girl I think, laid down in the
pass through the restaurant. No parent moved. The hostess, who was
seating people, had to literally step over the child to seat another
group, and they all had to step over or around her. Still no notice
from the parents. Eventually, as people have to step over or around
her to reach the restroom, someone at their table noticed her laying
there and came to get her. I was amazed. We have since encountered
many instances similar to this, where the parents in a restaurant
take no notice of their child shouting, jumping, throwing stuff, or
running around. Or they go around with their child, smiling happily
at all the diners they disrupt. I like children okay, and in some
restaurants I expect them to be there and there to be some amount of
chaos. When I go out to a nice restaurant, however, and pay for a
nice meal with my husband, I want just that - a nice meal. I am all
for child-free dining. I live in NC, and some people we know with
kids are outraged at this proposal. I tell them if people watched
their kids we wouldn't need it.

I recall an incident over the Easter holidays. My family and I went out to eat at a nice restaurant, but had our evening ruined by an irritating little girl who ran circles around her family's table and shrieked at the top of her lungs; I kept having to resist an urge to smack her. Finally, the girl's parents, equally disgusted by her antics, left the restaurant, much to the relief of the other patrons.

I am sick and tired of being surrounded by small children and infants whenever I go out to eat. I support this petition and I would really like to start something like this in New York. We've already got smoking banned from restaurants--why not children?

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In the last month, I've had two dinners completely ruined by kids and their breeder parents. I generally have a lot of patience, but these two incidents were over the top. Kids screaming, running around, lying on the floor, picking their nose, and all the while the parents either ignore them, or make even more noise than the kids do in a weak attempt to silence them. These were not really "kid" restaurants.

There really needs to be some kind of childfree section in restaurants, or no kids at all. We wasted $75+ on those two meals.

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My husband and I had escaped to Door County, WI, for a romantic getaway weekend. Door County is a common destination for couples who want to escape everyday life for a slower pace to enjoy gorgeous natural scenery, antiquing, casual shopping and glimpses of history. (There are family places, too, such as state and county parks for biking or skiing, beaches, boat rides, I think even a water park - but we try to avoid those places.) One of the greatest things about Door County, though, is the dining, as no fast food chains or other franchises are allowed north of Sturgeon Bay. Terrific restaurants, many of them focusing on local and seasonal specialties, abound, but there are also more casual sandwich-pizza-hot dog places and the ever-popular fish boil. It is definitely possible to find appropriate places to feed small children despite the absence of McDonald's.

One of our favorite Door County establishments had candlelight dinner every Saturday night, starting at 9pm (when children ought to have been in bed, or at the very least already fed). We had a cozy table in front of a window and were enjoying each other's company, although we were wary of the big table in the center of the room, occupied by three couples who were outnumbered by children under the age of 8. One couple clearly had their hands full with their two youngsters, one perhaps 3 and the other in a high chair. We tried to ignore their muted arguments over whose turn it was to watch/feed/entertain which child at any given moment and enjoy our romantic, delicious, and not-inexpensive dinner even though they clearly could not enjoy theirs with all the distractions at the table. (Honestly, I'm not convinced they would have enjoyed having dinner alone together that night, judging by the way their icy glances and clipped tones. Hmmm...had parenting taken its toll on their marriage, as it does on so many others?)

Tired of being ignored, the baby in the high chair began to fuss. They still ignored him. He fussed louder. They argued over who ought to be doing what to calm/quiet/comfort the child (and which of them ought to be allowed to try to have a grown-up dinner with the rest of the adults, truly a herculean feat with that many small children at the table). Soon, the baby started screaming and when neither parent would concede that it was their turn to take care of him, they both continued to ignore their baby and each other. Needless to say, we were exceedingly annoyed, but trying to have a good time and enjoy the food and what conversation we could hear from one another and not let their bad manners ruin our nice evening. Ultimately, however, the poor ignored baby (who was certainly bored, almost definitely very tired, and quite possibly also hungry) could not help but shatter what peace remained. By now in full tantrum, very effectively ignored by the parents (who probably had lots of practice), the baby threw his head backwards against the high chair (who knew a nice restaurant like that would even keep high chairs on hand - perhaps only in Door County, where they try, sometimes to a fault, to blend family-friendly with romantic escape?). The high chair, with the baby in it, flipped over, with the baby crash landing on the back of his head on the hardwood floor. Needless to say, the baby really started screaming then! And can you believe the parents had to argue over which of them was supposed to have been watching the baby, which of them should have prevented this, before either of them moved to scoop their precious bundle up from the floor even to confirm that the poor thing wasn't bleeding?!? I almost swooped in to comfort and quiet the screaming infant myself, I felt just about as sorry for him for having such lousy parents as I did for us for having our rare romantic outing so tarnished by their lousy parenting.

Who on earth feeds children by candlelight anyway?!?

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If you've got an opinion on child free dining, I'd like to hear from you!!

It isn't always the child free who don't want their dinners ruined by misbehaving children. There are parents out there who hire a babysitter for their children, only to have their "child free" dinner ruined by somebody else's kids!