To the Parents Who Take 'Disruptive' Children to Restaurants

Is there anything more annoying than loud, unruly children in a restaurant when you are trying to enjoy a nice quiet meal? Why do their parents even take them out knowing how loud and disruptive they will be?

My husband and I went out to a restaurant for dinner to a quaint, quiet place in the countryside. We were near two school-age children for the entire meal. I still have indigestion thinking about that evening now. The two kids should have been in bed — it was a school night after all — but instead their parents had taken them out.

The two children got louder as the evening went by, and I could see the aggravation rising in my husband’s eyes. We came out to enjoy a quiet meal, but instead we were witnessing something from a Looney Tunes cartoon.

The children shouted, laughed loud, shook condiments over people, climbed under the table, squealed loudly, were rude at times and kept standing on their chairs. The mother tried to reason with them but to no avail. One of the children ran around the restaurant and was dragged back.

I looked on in utter disbelief.

The children, surprisingly, ate their food despite moaning about its impending arrival. It was obviously way past their usual meal time, but each parent to their own I guess. When the kids had finished their main course, they demanded pudding. Manners were scarce!

After the kids had eaten, the rampage continued. They started swiping at the grown-ups with their teddy bears. They climbed over chairs, made patterns in the condensation on the restaurant windows and jumped on the back of their mother. At one point, the mother was on lockdown with one of her boys. He had her hair in a death grip. I was shocked. I was disgusted.

The whole restaurant was aware of this family, and it felt a little uncomfortable to say the least.

Why do parents with children like this inflict them upon the public? Are they really this selfish?

Aaannnddd stop.

The kids in this post are mine. The hair was also mine. Would I take them back to a restaurant? Hell yeah! That’s the life of this momma, and as disrupting as it may have been, they were actually pretty well behaved on this occasion. Ha, for real.

Don’t ever be ashamed or embarrassed, ever. Those onlookers know nothing about your children or your parenting skills.

There are additional needs in our family, including, invisible ones, sensory processing disorder and various ongoing assessments for other needs. But regardless, if a restaurant has a children’s menu, the fact remains that all children are welcome.

Follow this journey on Swords & Snoodles.

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