Parents - PLEASE be reasonable!

[ducklite]

Me neither. In fact, I rarely even notice other kids screaming or crying in restaurants. If I do notice it, I can easily tune it out. I've never understood how a meal can be "ruined" by a little noise coming from another table. :

Disclaimer -- I can understand that it'd be bothersome if it's a ton of noise, things being thrown around, etc, but I've never in my life experienced that, so I can't believe it happens all that often. And yes, I eat out a lot, both with my family and with business associates. I've had more trouble conducting business while dining due to mood music piped into a dining room, than I've had due to kids.

I've had many a meal ruined by a screaming kid, to the point that I've finally spoken to a manager about it. A little fussing as long as it's immediately addressed doesn't bother me. But kids running around the table shrieking, throwing rolls at each other, a two year old having a tantrum while it's parents are oblivious is completely rude and irreprehensible.

About six months ago, DH and I were dining at Jiko, and there was a couple there with a screaming rotten brat. Instead of leaving, they ORDERED DESSERT! It got so bad that we couldn't carry on a conversation, and came very close to simply walking out.

No manager should EVER allow that type of behavior in a restaurant, WDW or anywhere.

Anne

 

[Nancyg56]

My name is marathonmommy
I am a WOHM
I drive an SUV
I love McDonald's

BUT, I am a DAMN GOOD MOM!
Can I get an AMEN?

AMEN to you!!!!!!!!!My DD is WOHM Mom, drives an SUV, loves McDonalds and she's a wonderful Mom. No she doesn't cook, but sits down to a meal with her family most evenings. Takes more that staying at home to be a good Mom.

 

[taximomfor4]

My name is marathonmommy
I am a WOHM
I drive an SUV
I love McDonald's

BUT, I am a DAMN GOOD MOM!
Can I get an AMEN?

AMEN! I have done both...SAHM -WOHM (with daycare)-SAHM again-WOHM (tag-teaming with dh so no daycare)- and currently SOHM (Study Outside the Home Mom, RN school, again tag-teaming with dh.) ALL of these choices have had advantages AND disadvantages for both us and our children. Oh, and my kids have had angelic days (where they sit around polishing their halos all day) and ultra-meltdown days (might as well scrape them off the sidewalks)... by far the worst are the days where they are little angels who decide to THROW those halos, fling themselves to the ground, and scream till the walls across the Atlantic shake -- OUT OF THE BLUE.

I LOVE my little Dingo, Dango, Dipsy, and Bossy. They have many achievements for which I am proud of them, but screaming, bickering, and Olympic Fit-Throwing happen.

My 5yo son, last year when we were discussing what to give up for Lent, volunteered to..."Give up being nice to his sisters." Those are the days I just repeat my mantra "Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing...Children are a blessing..."

 

[stacy6552]

My biggest impression with families at WDW (and I have a son, aged 5) is that the parents are there for themselves and NOT the children. What I mean is, I met so many families with EXHAUSTED kids that were foul, screeming brats. When I asked them (politely) what they had been doing, I got the same general responses: up at 6am, quick breakfast in the room, dressed and out the door to get to X park for Early Magic Hours, or Character Breakfast; then agenda to do ALL the rides in the parks, eat quick meals so as not to miss specific shows, go ALL DAY in the heat, humidity, noise, and stimulation, eat dinner in a nice restaurant (with a child / children who have not napped or had any of their "own" time), go back to the park for more stimulation, sugared snacks, and noise, as well as heat, watch fireworks that are on much later than these kids' normal bedtimes, then stand in large crowds waiting for busses to take them back to the hotel, where some parents then let them swim at 11pm or feed them yet another high-calorie, low nutritional meal, and ALL THE TIME WONDER - WHY IS MY KID SO ILL-MANNERED?!!! WHY ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE GIVING ME / MY FAMILY DIRTY LOOKS?

Are you wering a confessors collar or something? Or is it that you are presumptious and judgemental all the time? I simply dont by that you found even one person, much less many, who would go into usch depths of their day when making small talk in line or waiting for the parade.....

 

[Hodder]

My name is marathonmommy
I am a WOHM
I drive an SUV
I love McDonald's

BUT, I am a DAMN GOOD MOM!
Can I get an AMEN?

I don't have an SUV

, but hey as the song goes 2 out of 3 ain't bad. LOL

 

[!@#$%]

McDonalds... YUCK! Just cant do fast food chains. The third time (in 2 weeks) I got an unidentifiable piece of blue plastic umbedded in the patty of my Hardees burger that was it for me. I particularly like the scene on the movie "Falling Down" where the guy asks the manager (at gunpoint) why the picture of the burger was a tall georgoes fresh burger and his thing he got looked like a flattened warped piece of slop. I bout wet my pants when I saw that scene!

 

[ducklite]

McDonalds... YUCK! Just cant do fast food chains. The third time (in 2 weeks) I got an unidentifiable piece of blue plastic umbedded in the patty of my Hardees burger that was it for me.

C'Mon man! It's roughage--you got lucky they didn't try to charge extra for it!

Anne

 

[sara74]

Marathonmommy- AMEN to you! (or kudos - wouldn't want to start a religious debate!) I am at WOHM but drive a minivan and like BK better than McD's (Whopper Jr all the way!) Amen to me anyway?


AMEN to all of us! WOHM/SAHM's and all there incarnations. And AMEN to the dad's who do dishes, pack luches and make coffee with us too!

And AMEN to anyone who is here trying to plan a nice time for our little ones. That's what brought us all here! Too bad some people missed the 'be nice to others' lesson in preschool.

And whenever I question my choice to work I think about my own mom - she worked 6 days a week and did accounting jobs at night to pay the rent and take care of us and still made time to do crafts with us, make us dinner (frozen pizza counts too!) and make my sister and I sure that we were the most important people to her. I only hope my kids can say that when they are grown!

 

[rt2dz]

GO BACK TO YOUR HOTEL TO HAVE A SWIM AND NAP!!!!
.

Really and truly, I'm not flaming, but this is cookie cutter advice that does not work for every family. The ONLY meltdowns we've had at WDW is when we do try and take that advice. Our kids are not happy with that. They don't want to leave the parks in the middle of the fun, and swimming is no big deal. We can pretty much swim year round here and the public pools have much more to them than the WDW resort pools--private pools are pretty similiar to the WDW resort ones.

What does work for us is getting up and going to the parks only after the kids are up (whether that is 7 am or 11 am) and staying until they want to leave. Typically that means getting to the park btw 8-9 am and leaving by btwn 5-7 pm. Occassionally, we might stay all day, but only if the kids have napped in the park (stroller naps), but then take a non-resort day the next day.

The rest of this thread, I'm going to ignore.

 

[KeepSwimming]

WHY OH WHY .....havent they closed this thread yet??? Ladies (and gents) don't you EVER get tired of these?

Your embarrassing your fellow DISer's.....

 

[pandora174]

I really think you could have made your point without including the last bit.
There are overstimulated, overtired, overwhelmed children and ADULTS of ALL sorts of families. Even the most well-mannered children can get a bit flustered by the change in excitement / routine.

Dawna

I agree that the point was made without that last part. All families are different & no one should judge. Our DS was a preemie with several issues. He's needed lots of therapy (speech, occupational & physical). We were fortunate that we could afford my DH to stay home & basically serve as chauffeur for our DS so he could get to all his visits. & my DS would get overstimulated & throw tantrums because he gets frustrated that he can't tell us what he wants or thinks. So I'm sure we must of gotten some dirty looks at Disney & elsewhere. That's why I don't judge other people or their kids because you never know. & now that's he's started a special day care & his therapy has been reduced my DH will be going back to work so I guess I'll be one of "those parents" that picks up their kids at daycare & runs through McDonalds & then home. Actually I'm looking forward to it because it means he's catching up & all our sacrifices have been worth it. Not everyone is as fortunate to be able to afford to be a stay at home parent. Ok, off my soapbox now.

 

[sixAMmom]

I want to know when it became ok to tell other people how to raise their kids. Unles you see that child being physically or mentally abused shut your mouth and SMILE!!!! Just be thankful its not your perfect child. I am so tired of total strangers on these boards telling other people how to "control" their children. I have 4 kids and each one is different. If I tried to leave the parks the screaming would be worse. Worse still the would probably fall asleep on the bus, wake up at the hotel and scream some more. I have been there when my kids had a meltdown over not having candy for dinner and people staring. I think "so what I will probably never se these people again" and move on. I am also a techer of toddlers and can say that some kids are just that way. My advice to you if you see a child having a meltdaown at the end of the day is say to yourself "BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I"

Sorry this is just the thread that broke the camel back!!


DH 30
DW 32
DD 8 Jasmine
DD 7 Ariel
DS 4 Capt Jack
DD 18 months Belle

 

[justhat]

We just got back from WDW last night, and sure we saw a couple of crying kids, but it's not always that the parents are forcing them to do commando parks all day. I can't read all 8 pages of this thread right now, but I know the OP said she heard the same response from every parent with a crying child, that they got up at 6, ate in the room, stayed out all day, etc. But I really find it hard to believe that every person did the same things. We were on the bus from POFQ to MNSSHP on Friday night and an almost 2yo girl screamed the entire ride. One might think it was because it was 7:30pm and she was tired. However, she was going to MNSSHP after having swam, napped, and eaten dinner. She was screaming because she wanted a bottle and her mom was afraid to give it to her because she vomits when she drinks milk in the heat and had already vomited that morning. Once we got to the MK she was okay and seemed happy to be at MNSSHP.

Also, if you were eating lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus yesterday afternoon you would have seen my 1yo crying throughout about half of our meal, while my husband and I ignored her and continued our lunch. You might have said "Look at those bad parents letting their child scream. She's obviously in need of a nap at the resort." What she actually was in need of (well, in her opinion) was a French fry, which we do not feed her. We ordered meals with carrots as a side, but they gave my husband fries as well by mistake so she saw them on his plate and wanted to eat them. We gave her 2 then threw them all out, which prompted her to scream and stop eating for the rest of the meal. We left lunch, went across the path to ride Peter Pan and she was fine. However, there was no distracting her during that meal so we ignored her (since it's soooo loud in there her screams were not bothering anyone).

You also might think I'm a mean mommy when you saw my daughter crying during her photo with Buzz. However, she insisted on meeting him, did not want to wait her turn in line she was so excited, then after she ran up and hugged him she all of a sudden started to cry. Weird, I know, but to the passerby it looks as though I made her pose for a photo even though she was afraid of the character.

My daughter is also not one to nap in the room. We've tried that many times and have given up. She's way too excited opening window shades, drawers, and just running aroudn the room to nap. She sleeps in a bed, not a crib or pack and play, so there's no 'forcing' her to sleep. She naps in her stroller in the parks, usually for about 2.5 hours, longer than she ever naps at home, and wakes up ready to go. While she sleeps my husband and I take turns riding the things she isn't tall enough for, or sometimes we'll just ride the TTA 4 or 5 times in a row so we both get a break too.

So anyway, my point is, don't judge parents by their screaming/crying/tantruming child. You don't know why every single child is crying at any given time nor do you know much about the parenting skills in place or what they've been doing. Sometimes kids just cry, meltdown, etc. and you can't expect or avoid it.

 

[Evil Queen]

My DS9 also has Asperger's even though he has learned several "tricks" to calm and soothe himself, he still has outburst and meltdowns.

This past trip, I was the one exhausted, due to he was ready to go. 6 parks in 6 days (including the water parks) plus one night of DTD. At times I thought I would have my own meltdowns.

I only saw one young girl having a meltdown.......I felt bad for both her and her family. I gave the "smile" to her and her family, and really hoped that all would turn out good for them.

 

[rjthkids]

Just cant do fast food chains. The third time (in 2 weeks) I got an unidentifiable piece of blue plastic umbedded in the patty of my Hardees burger that was it for me. I particularly like the scene on the movie "Falling Down" where the guy asks the manager (at gunpoint) why the picture of the burger was a tall georgoes fresh burger and his thing he got looked like a flattened warped piece of slop. I bout wet my pants when I saw that scene!

ITA. I worked for McDonald's for four years when I was a teenager. Between that experience, Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me, you couldn't pay me enough money to step foot in a fast food joint, much less actually eat their food.

 

[Meezers]

Since we are a 3 adult family I cannot comment on what may or may not cause a child to have a meltdown.

Now...there is a difference between a meltdown and a child just not behaving in the environement he is in. Table service resturants are not places to be throwing food and running around. Maybe I am strange but this type of behavior just should not be allowed. I have noticed this type of behavior way too often in regular resturants not at WDW.

Our 3 adult family does have to plan in down time. Even adults can get sensory overload....I know my Mom does...gee...why don't they make nice covered strollers for adults so Mom can nap while DB and I are on ToT?

PS....EvilQueen....wish I could spend some time with your DS....sounds like I could learn some things from him!

 

[3DisneyKids]

To the OP: Glad this schedule worked for you, but you need to realize a couple of things: (1) this does not work for every family as every family is different and (2) you only have one kid...having more is a whole different ball of wax. You have 2 adults and just one child, so life is much easier. BTW, I'm not complaining...I love having 3 kids. It just means life is different and therefore different strategies work.

For us: we sleep in. Period. We get up when we get up...no alarms or rushing off to a park. We do not come back for naps because it does not work for us, so we stay in the park until about 3 or 4 (after the parade)...and then we are done for the day.

One night we will go watch the fireworks from the GF (or other resort...not in the park)...kids already cleaned and in PJs.

We have friends whose schedule is to be at the parks from 2pm - 9pm. They sleep in, have a large, long brunch, hang out in the pool and then go to the parks. They say it is less crowded, and of course it cools off after 5-ish. The pools are close to empty, too. Wouldn't work for us, but they swear buy it. Different strategies for different families.

Do DH and I wish we could hang out till all hours? Sure, but we'll have plenty of time when the kids are grown...and then we'll be like "Gee...I sure wish we had little kids to enjoy the parks with..." LOL

I notice that the OP has not posted in several pages. Guess she finally got the hint that she rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

 

[aubriee]

I don't have a problem with kids having a melt down in the parks. I will glance at them and give the parents a smile. Even normally well behaved ('well brought up') kids will occasionally have a melt down for any one of a multitude of reasons.

However, I do have a problem with a kid screaming throughout a meal, disturbing other diners. I do have a problem with kids screaming during the shows, so loud that others can't hear the show. I have a problem with the little babies I see severely sunburned. Last January I had a problem with the little four y/o Brazillian boy who was entertaining himself in line by running and boucing off everyone around him, while his parents thought it was funny and laughed. Those little four y/o elbows and feet hurt, so the rest of us did not think it was funny to be bounced off of. To me those were the 'bad parents'. You don't let your child infringe on the rights of others and you take care of their physical needs. You remove them from the situation when they are obviously disturbing others with their behaviour.

 

[lucincia]

I don't have a problem with kids having a melt down in the parks. I will glance at them and give the parents a smile. Even normally well behaved ('well brought up') kids will occasionally have a melt down for any one of a multitude of reasons.

However, I do have a problem with a kid screaming throughout a meal, disturbing other diners. I do have a problem with kids screaming during the shows, so loud that others can't hear the show. I have a problem with the little babies I see severely sunburned. Last January I had a problem with the little four y/o Brazillian boy who was entertaining himself in line by running and boucing off everyone around him, while his parents thought it was funny and laughed. Those little four y/o elbows and feet hurt, so the rest of us did not think it was funny to be bounced off of. To me those were the 'bad parents'. You don't let your child infringe on the rights of others and you take care of their physical needs. You remove them from the situation when they are obviously disturbing others with their behaviour.

I find it amazing that some parents have posted that if their "normally well behaving" kids are having a meltdown at meal time in a restaurant, they will just let them cry through the meal. I find that very rude to other patrons. I don't want to be bothered that way so why should they. Disney or no Disney.

Whenever one of my kids has a meltdown in an enclosed location, like restaurant, store, theater, etc., I immediately remove them from the premise. I would stand outside with them until they calm down. Most of the time the kid will stop right away since she doesn't want to be removed from the group thinking she might miss something fun. So, it is over very quickly.

Some of the posts in this thread just amazes me of how inconsiderate some of the parents can be.

 

[taximomfor4]

I find it amazing that some parents have posted that if their "normally well behaving" kids are having a meltdown at meal time in a restaurant, they will just let them cry through the meal. I find that very rude to other patrons. I don't want to be bothered that way so why should they. Disney or no Disney.

Whenever one of my kids has a meltdown in an enclosed location, like restaurant, store, theater, etc., I immediately remove them from the premise. I would stand outside with them until they calm down. Most of the time the kid will stop right away since she doesn't want to be removed from the group thinking she might miss something fun. So, it is over very quickly.

Some of the posts in this thread just amazes me of how inconsiderate some of the parents can be.

AT TIMES we have to do the opposite from you. Like when ONE of our kids cries because they disagreed with where we are eating lunch. I cannot up and leave, because then the other three get no lunch and the acting-up kid gets her way (we don't eat at that restaurant). Would I let her have her fit and disturb other guests for a long time? It might seem long, but I would not let it continue over a couple of minutes. In fact, I wouldn't look her in the eye after my initial "talking to," I would keep on quietly playing with the other kids. Then, when she calmed down, after figuring out that her ploy was not going to work, she would join back into our games while the food cooks.

Has this happened? Yes, that is how I could give an accurate scenario. Why didn't ONE parent take her out of there? Because there was only one parent there that day. I guess whether a parent "should" let the kid scream in a public place depends on WHY the kid is screaming. My kids had to learn that sometimes we DID have to go grocery shopping, even if they didn't want to. And that their screaming was not going to get them what they wanted (to leave). Yes, if the kid is having a fit and removing them is NOT what they wanted all along, it would work. But that is not always the case.

Once again, this does NOT mean we let our kids scream in a restaurant throughout dinner!! A few minutes has always worked just fine!

Beth