How do you entertain your kids at restaurants?

[hannahdrewmom]

I agree with this for typical children. For those with special circumstances, do whatever it takes to make the meal enjoyable for your own family.

My kids have special circumstances and I work with kids with special needs as well. They can be taught to behave appropriately. Is it easy? NO! Does it take work? YES! But that is my job as a parent and teacher..... To take the time to let me kids learn to adapt to situations... not to avoid them.

I'm sorry but as a parent of a special needs kid I find this insulting. We as parents can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't expect society to treat our kids like they are like everyone else... and then expect them to be entitled to not living by social norms. It frustrates me to no end and makes my job as a special needs mom that much harder.

 

[poohbear227]

I don't mind the DVD player or IPOD app, as long as the volume is low or headphones and it's NOT a signature restaurant.

I went to Artist's Point once and a family had the nerve to bring in a DVD player for their toddler while they ate. Regular volume until a CM finally spoke to them and I saw the mother roll her eyes and dig out some headphones......Really??? In a signature restaurant? If you have a youngster who is not able to sit and behave without a DVD player, please don't bring them to a signature restaurant. There is nothing more rude and tasteless.

I don't really care about the DVD or app noise while at a buffet-it's a more casual atmosphere & more geared toward little ones. It's just the grown-up places that I take issue with.

When my kids were younger, we only did buffets and casual sit down places..... places that were more appropriate to take a child who was "just learning" how to behave in a restaurant. I gave them coloring books, maybe a magnadoodle-something non disrupting to the nearby tables. The kids were not perfect, but we took them out of the restaurant as soon as any behaviors occurred that disrupted or could potentially disrupt other patrons. We did not even consider signature-type meals until our kids were old enough and mature enough to handle it.

 

[VeroBeachGirl]

My kids have special circumstances and I work with kids with special needs as well. They can be taught to behave appropriately. Is it easy? NO! Does it take work? YES! But that is my job as a parent and teacher..... To take the time to let me kids learn to adapt to situations... not to avoid them.

I'm sorry but as a parent of a special needs kid I find this insulting. We as parents can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't expect society to treat our kids like they are like everyone else... and then expect them to be entitled to not living by social norms. It frustrates me to no end and makes my job as a special needs mom that much harder.

We also have a family member who has autism, is non-verbal and very low functioning. If it takes an Ipad, DVD player, or and Itouch to get him to sit through dinner (if he even is willing to enter into the restaurant) then we are all okay with that. We have accepted that he will never be able to live by social norms and therefore, normal social graces (such as no electronics at the table) don't apply to him like they do with his siblings.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't want to hear someone else playing a movie at their table, or a video game with sound effects, but I don't care if it's used as long as the kids wear headphones or earbuds. No, that may not work with the very tiny ones...but I still don't want to hear the movie. Some folks do turn the volume up high enough for other tables to hear.

I was on a plane once where some parents were playing a DVD for their small kids at top volume...the flight attendant came over and asked them to use earphones, and the parents flipped. Just flipped and started yelling.

And Disney is not for kids. It is for everyone who wants to be there.

 

[poohbear227]

And Disney is not for kids. It is for everyone who wants to be there.

A-men!!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Also should mention that this isn't a parenting forum...let's stick with things to do in restaurants, and not what the duty of a parent is or is not.

 

[LilyWDW]

I don't want to hear someone else playing a movie at their table, or a video game with sound effects, but I don't care if it's used as long as the kids wear headphones or earbuds. No, that may not work with the very tiny ones...but I still don't want to hear the movie. Some folks do turn the volume up high enough for other tables to hear.

I was on a plane once where some parents were playing a DVD for their small kids at top volume...the flight attendant came over and asked them to use earphones, and the parents flipped. Just flipped and started yelling.

And Disney is not for kids. It is for everyone who wants to be there.

Just a ...

Hearing a game or movie is JUST as annoying as hearing a child crying.

 

[4orm]

Last year, when my daughter was 12mo she was great at meals. She'd sit and happily scrawl on the place mat with a crayon. This year I'm a little more hesitant but she is pretty well behaved (we're lucky). We do eat at a lot of signature restaurants so we plan to not eat in courses - we're light eaters anyhow so we'll ask all our food to arrive at once. We can eat it without much waiting time and if she decides to act up we'll pack up any remaining food and leave.

We have ipods, the nintendo dsi, a dvd player... but for our family those are adult toys.

I'm making 'toddler packs' for her for this trip. Baggies with things in them like stickers, tiny notebooks, cryaons, small books, small toys (she loves playmobil people), pictures we can talk about, small felt board and pieces... there are so many options. I've been searching online for different ideas - there are so many!

As for the etiquette, it's poor etiquette to be playing at the table, regardless of the item being made into a plaything. However, I do find a difference between dining at Pinocchio's Village House and the Cali Grill. We will be letting her play at the table with small, unobtrusive things, wherever we dine. Poor etiquette? Yes. Nice dining experience for those around us as well as ourselves? Yes.

 

[MSSANDRA]

A couple more ideas:

If you know your little ones is going to have a hard time sitting for a log time, have someone take her for a little walk after you order and before the food comes. There is so much to see in any WDW restaurant that you can easily fill 20 minutes or so if you need to.

Order her food that takes a while to eat. Lot of easy to eat finger foods and maybe even have a few snack of your own to be sure she gets satisfied,

After dinner, either be willing to entertain, or finish up and get moving. Not fair to a small child to sit though adult converstation that he is not involved it. Of course involving your child in the discussion is great and may buy some time!
During this time. I am willing to pull out the iphone if I need to,
Maybe allow her a dessert graze on even if the rest of the group opts out of dessert.

Good luck. Do what works well for you!!!!

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

I'm also in the camp that a few crayons and a coloring sheet should be sufficient. It really is all about teaching your children expected behavior for any given situation. My children are grown, but we took them to restaurants from the time they were babies. Yes, there were times when we had to leave, or my husband or I would take the misbehaving critter to the car, while the other two finished their meal. After, a time or two of learning there were consequences to their behavior, they were never a problem. The key is consistency. I think it is much better to teach them how to be part of a conversation. Meal time is a great opportunity for family interaction. I'd hate to change that dynamic by introducing electronic devises to the table. But, the expectations should be set and understood well before a trip to Disney.

 

[glk2009]

I read through all of the replies and sorry if I missed if someone brought this up, but when we're at WDW, we are eating out all of the time, be it QS or TS. That can get tiring for even the most well-behaved child and it can get tiring for adults. So, I have nothing against entertaining my DD at meals.

My DD3 has been eating out since she was a wee one as well, but there are times when she has trouble sitting still for an entire meal.

We pack our iPod and headphones (these were used even when she was younger and she made the decision to either use them or have no sound) as well as other entertaining items such as crayons and paper, wikki stix, magna doodles, trains and books. DD also likes just having a ballpoint pen and a small notebook and will either write a story or ask us about our day.

Usually (not all of the time), these stay packed away until after she is done eating. We do enjoy the time before the food is brought to the table as family time and to talk about this, that and everything. And if me and DH, don't feel like rushing, we let her choose something to help her pass the time at the end of the meal or during dessert.

When we're at WDW, one of the things that DD loves to look at are the park maps. She loves to unfold them, fold them, look at them and plan a route or tell a story.

Some of her favorite apps include Starfall, Sneezies, Toddler Shapes, Shape Builder Lite, Matching Zoo, Coloring (not sure about it's official name) and Donut Maker.

Have a great time!

 

[starousse]

I'm also in the camp that a few crayons and a coloring sheet should be sufficient. It really is all about teaching your children expected behavior for any given situation. My children are grown, but we took them to restaurants from the time they were babies. Yes, there were times when we had to leave, or my husband or I would take the misbehaving critter to the car, while the other two finished their meal. After, a time or two of learning there were consequences to their behavior, they were never a problem. The key is consistency. I think it is much better to teach them how to be part of a conversation. Meal time is a great opportunity for family interaction. I'd hate to change that dynamic by introducing electronic devises to the table. But, the expectations should be set and understood well before a trip to Disney.

I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[Disneylvr]

My daughter has lower functioning autism and is non-verbal. We have been taking her to restaurants (at home and in Disney) since she was an infant and now she is 8 years old. We feel it is extremely important to her development that we expose her to social situations that any typical child would have. The hardest part for her is waiting for the food to arrive. I bring fidget toys for her (squishy balls etc..) and those usually help. Occasionally we remove her from the table for a break in the lobby but thankfully that rarely has to happen. I admit, when she was younger, we brought the DVD player once in awhile but we ceased that practice. We do have an iPad (for communication purposes) that we may or may not bring to Disney in January. We do what we can to make it a pleasant dining experience for her, us and any nearby customers and we won't be dining at signature restaurants either! Family friendly is the way to go.

 

[Gracedis1]

This is why we are doing the quick service dining plan with my 5 year old. We have tried and tried, and he is just not good at staying still and quiet in a sit down restaurant. He loves the iphone games, but I don't like relying on that. I don't have a problem with other kids doing it with earbuds, but he won't eat and interact if he has the iphone going, and he gets cranky if I take it away from him. So we play I Spy in restaurants, which he loves. And lots of tic tac toe, and a game where we have to guess a line from a Disney movie, or guess what song I'm humming. But 20 months is kind of young for some of those games. At least most Disney restaurants have lots to look at, and you can always get up and visit the bathroom!