Buffets and kids - parents that don't supervise

[Mom of 3]

I have often wondered why some parents don't supervise their little kids at the buffets. Even local buffet places have a sign saying "children 10 and under must be supervised" - which I think it a great idea if only it was enforced.

I always see little kids at the buffet bar by themselves touching the food, juggling their plates and spilling stuff on the floor. Where are the parents? Why isn't a staff member or manager enforcing the adult supervision rule? It drives me nuts! And when I ask some little kid where their parent is they give me a blank stare.

Not to long ago I took my 7 year old to a buffet and took him up to help him get dessert and came back to an empty table - everything had been cleaned away. The waitress said she thought we had left. "Uh no, I was just supervising my 7 year old." No harm done.

Anyway, it is a pet peeve of mine - drives me nuts.

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I do mostly buffets, for breakfast and dinner and we go about 6 times a year and do not recall seeing that many unsupervised kids at the buffet lines. Older ones sure, old enough that they know how to put food on their plates using the utensils not their fingers. I think it is gross that people touch the utensils and then plop the utensils down ON TOP of the food instead of the little dish besides the food.

 

[murcor]

I agree! I have 2 kids 7 & 6 years old and they cant understand why they cant go up by themselves since they see other smaller kids up there.

Kids have some bad habits

 

[beattyfamily]

ITA! It drives me crazy. I go up with my girls who are 7 and 11. Sometimes my 11 year old will go up for the second time by herself for dessert. I do trust her.

I haven't really noticed little ones by themselves at WDW but I've definitely seen it locally and it drives me crazy.

I have a story.

Our local Chinese buffet always has little kids going up by themselves. It also has the "Children under 10 must be surpervised" sign. This Chinese buffet is huge and amazing. It also has a raw bar where you pick the meat or sea food and they cook it up for you. The food is sitting on ice. One day I saw a girl about 4 or 5 years old alone filling a dessert bowl with that ice! I watched her go back to her table to eat it. I told DH and he ran to the table to tell her parents. They were very thankful but angry, shocked, mortified and seemed embarrassed. They got rid of it and yelled at her and then took her angrily to the bathroom to wash her hands. He told them as nicely as he could because he didn't want her to get sick. Our 7 year old got E-Coli when she was two and almost died. One way you can get it is dirty ice as well as many other illnesses.

Buffets are a big way illnesses are spread easily due to sharing of the buffet spoons. So seeing kids touching everything without a parent to supervise them drives me crazy.

I don't think a child under 10 should go up alone, unsupervised. You may think they can handle it, but that may not be so. They're just kids and kids don't always remember all the rules and may do things that would surprise you.

Anyway, it is a pet peeve of mine as well.

 

[Christine]

In my past buffet experiences, I haven't noticed too many unsupervised kids. Until this past trip when I went to 1900 Park Fare. OMG!! These kids (and they were 5 and under) were running through the restaurant, up to the characters who were interacting with other tables, and in and out of the buffet line. It was awful. I couldn't tell if it was just one particular family that was the offender or if a lot of people felt like they were in Chuck E. Cheese or something.

 

[MommaPooh217]

As many times as our family has dined at the buffets I've seen it once or twice and the times I have seen it I have said something to a CM and the food that was touched was replaced. I always go with my kids to the buffet and I fill their plates because I know if I let them fill their own plates there would be nothing on them for dinner but desserts . I make sure to fequently remind them not to touch anything while they are making their selections, they can point to let me know what they want but not over the buffet.

Blessed Be,
Tina

 

[webshark3]

You're worried about buffets? You don't even want to know what my kids do to sugar packets, creamer cups, and other condiments at TS resturaunts.... LOL

I remember a few years ago, we had a big party on a "Take your kids to work day". We had a huge table full of pizza for all the little ones. I was busy taking photos, and waited for everyone to finish eating before I went to the table.

As I went to pick up a slice, a co-worker just shook his head and said "You don't want that."

I didn't need any more information.

 

[dwaddict]

We saw this at the Crystal Palace recently. children were running amuck and touching the food. One little boy even dropped food tongs on the floor picked them up and put them right back in the food. I grab the nearest CM, told her and she grabbed up all the food and took it away. I would be mortified if my children acted the way some of these kids act in public. We see it here too at our local chinese buffet.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I let my DD6 go to the buffet by herself at Chef Mickey's. We had already done a buffet earlier where I showed her how to properly get her food and had watched her return as our table was very very close. She would only get a few items at a time, not spill and not touch. So when it was time for CMs we went up together the first time and then I allowed her to return on her own. I did watch her from the table but allowed her to feel she was on vacation and free to make her own choices. I watched her more for her saftey than her behavior/manners.

My DD is very rules focused. We have had several family functions where we serve buffet style and we go through the line the first time together then if she wants seconds she can get what she wants by herself. I've never seen her touch the food with her hands, I have seen her scold adults for it though! If she does have an accident and spills she either comes and gets me immediatly or cleans it up herself.

I've seen adults with much worse behavior at buffets then my DD.

 

[bzzymom]

I let DS go to the buffet with me, but I put the food on the plate for him.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

We often go to the Chinese buffet here at home, where I've never seen a sign as to the age of the kids using the buffet.

My kids are 12 and 8. The 8 year old has been getting her own food for a few months now. She knows how to get the food without putting her hands into anything and she is good about carrying her plate without dropping things on the floor. Before I let her fly solo I used to shadow her so I would follow behind her and watch her take food. This way I was there to help her if she needed assistance but if she was okay I would let her do it herself.

 

[graygables]

My 8yo has served herself from buffets for at least 2 years now (all my DDs were "on their own" at buffets by 6yo). Her particular favorite is Boma. She is very well-mannered, knows how to use utensils, has never dropped a plate, and certainly never touches the food with her hands. If she believes she cannot manage a food item on her own, she finds one of us and asks for help. She also knows not to take more than she will eat and if it's a new to her food, she only takes a very little to taste in case she doesn't like it.

Honestly, it has very little to do with the children and more to do with the parents. If you don't teach them at a young age, how are they to know any different? Again, just an example of poor parenting and general lack of manners.

 

[Princesa]

ok...slightly off topic as no kids are involved but funny story....

I immediately clicked on this thread as I am the manager of a buffet restaurant. It always amazes me how often I walk up to a child that can barely see the food on their tip toes and ask "sweetie...would you like me to help you get that food onto your plate?" and have the parents glare at me no less. So a well-behaved, "I know buffet rules" type six year old I have no problem with as long as they follow standard protocol.

anyway...on to funny story.... One day, a grown man (probably in his early fifties, nicely dressed) was waiting at the register for a carryout order. One of my servers alerted me "We have a potential vulture! (we call them that because they often circle the salad bar several times times before snitching an item.)
so...we have had people swipe a cucumber, a pack of crackers, a cookie...etc. OK...they used the tongs, dropped it into their hands...no big deal really just highly irritating. But we do watch....so we were all watching this grown man scoop up a handful of POTATO SALAD!!! Yes, dipped his hand right into the container and scooped up a handful of potato salad and then proceeded to eat it from his hand! Beyond being absolutely horrified we were hysterically laughing at the guy trying to act so cool about it as though no one would have noticed that this is off the charts unacceptable....so we (no one else eating off the salad bar at the time..) sit back to watch the show So he finally decides that three handfuls is enough...and slinks back over to the counter to finish waiting We promptly disposed of the container of potato salad and then spent the next five minutes cracking up that the guy was standing at the counter with potato salad all over his face (I guess it's hard to be neat when eating on the sly out of your hand ) So I finally went over to the guy and mentioned oh so politely that next time he might like to request a fork and plate while he wait...but would he like a napkin? He did manage to appear properly mortified that we had seen him at least. We decided it was worth the price of the potato salad we had to throw out to get that good of a laugh that night. some people...

 

[MaryKatesMom]

My poor 9 yr old was backed into by an unapologetic adult who knocked the plate out of her hands at Cape May. The plate fell to the floor smashed loudly and splattered all over the place. She burst into tears. The CM behind the counter and I saw the whole thing and the guy knew he did it but fled. I'm sure everyone in the restaurant who heard it was thinkingf "Bad Kid" but it wasn't her fault. My point is we don't always know the full story.

Also, for those single parents out there it is hard to impossible to manage two or more kids plates.

There IS a big difference in the level of experience between different children. Mine are in restaurants frequently, while my niece and nephew rarely eat out. Mine are WAY more confidant at a buffet.