Monkeys R Us - Not any more (Kids and Restaurants)

Member Name: sue26

Product:	Kids and Restaurants
Date:	06/11/01 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gets you out of the house

Disadvantages: gives you a headache

Don`t do it, that`s my advice. Why do we all set ourselves up with hard work, criticism and punishment, then complain about it? We`re all mad and never learn the first time, that`s why.

My children are like most other kids, maybe worse in my opinion, but all parents say that don`t they? You sit them down for dinner, they either aim for their mouths and miss, or leave out the aiming part and just throw it at each other or against the walls and floors.

No two children can sit at a dinner table without arguing about something, and even if you feed them exactly what they have asked for, they will still find something to complain about.

So why, for heaven`s sake, do we think that they will behave any differently if we take them to a restaurant.

Take my kids for example, I tell them we`re going out for a meal and if they don`t behave they won`t come with us. Of course, they don`t behave but we take them anyway. You ask them what they want to eat, they ummm and ahhhh for 15 minutes and then either say chips, or I`m not hungry.

They then continue to ignore you as you tell them to sit still, carry on playing with their food when you`ve told them to eat it, and you sit there red faced thinking everyone is staring at you whether they are or not.

Then of course there`s every child`s obsession with toilets in restaurants( or maybe it`s just mine). When there`s a different toilet, why must they visit it every 10 minutes, and to make it worse, they won`t go on their own but insist you take them.

Then there`s other peoples attitudes. You tell your children off for misbehaving, then everyone stares at you as if you`re putting them through some kind of torture. You ignore them, hoping they will get bored and sit still, and everyone tuts and mutters about lack of discipline. You`re damned if you do, and you`re damned if you don`t.

Then there`s the fact of whether a restaurant caters for children in the first pla
ce. You would assume that if you see high chairs and children`s menus, then kids are welcome. How many times have you sat down to a meal, then every time someone needs to get past your table, you have to get up to move the high chair out of the way.

What about the children`s menus? They charge extortionate prices for what equates to a saucer of fish fingers and chips. Not all children eat the same foods. My son won`t eat veg, but both my daughter`s love the stuff. I have yet to come across a menu that offers the same meat and three veg in a child size portion. I usually have to order an adult sized meal with an extra plate, then divide it up between the girls.

So there you go. But do I follow my own advice? Well yes, I do now, I won`t be taking them to a proper restaurant again until they reach the age where I don`t have to strap them to the seat to get them to sit still. After all, why go out to be humiliated, when you can shout till your heart`s content at home, and don`t have to worry about people gawping at you. Bear in mind, children were put on this earth to make monkeys out of us, and that`s the one job that they are all excellent at doing.

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