Why do people let their kids do this?

[ducklite]

Ugh!! This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Not only is it terribly rude, but also very dangerous!

Last night DH and I went to eat at Bongo's before we went to House of Blues. We had just gotten our drinks and basket of bread, and the little girl--probably abolut four years old--from the table next to us came over and started to talk to us. We ignored her, as we refuse to encourage poor manners and bad parenting. She must have been at our table for a good twenty seconds--think about it, that's quite a long bit of time under those circumstances--trying to get our attention before her parents called her back.

She reappeared at our table two more times we we were trying to eat, the third time I turned and GLARED at her mother who finally got the hint, "No we don't think your child is adorable, and she's ruining our meal." You think maybe the parents would have gotten it the first time after we ignored the not so precious kid.

They also allowed her two year old brother to get down and run around, and all they did was in a sweet voice tell him he had to come back to the table and sit in his big boy chair or they would put him in the high chair. Come on people, he obviously isn't ready for that "big boy chair" so why are you giving him the choice?

Why on earth do parents allow this? I was very ready to yell at the parents to the point of making a scene due to my frustration with not being able to eat my meal in peace due to the parents and childrens rudeness and poor manners. However I decided that I would show so manners and discretion--take the high road if you will.

How would you all have handled it?

BTW--otherwise we had a great meal with great service!

Anne

 

[MushyMushy]

That drives me nuts too. If DH and I go to the trouble of getting a sitter for OUR kids, do other parents really think we want to spend our evening entertaining theirs? We usually ignore kids too, but not to the point of being mean to them or anything. It's not their fault.

On the other hand, we are pretty friendly and often remark or smile at kids when they're behaving nicely.

 

[Pixiedust34]

That bothers me, too. It is beyond my comprehension why a parent would allow their little one to approach strangers eating in a restaurant and try to join their party. The worst offenders are usually the ones sitting in a booth behind you who stand to lean over into your space.

And, letting your little ones run around a restaurant while servers are carrying heavy plates and hot coffee is an accident waiting to happen. I just don't get it.

 

[Galahad]

Has this happened to you anywhere other that WDW?

 

[mla2177]

I hate this too!!!!!! My SIL lets her daughter (2) do this too! I hate being out in public with her when she does this. It is soooooo embarrasing! Meanwhile, my 2 yr old DS knows he better not even think about running around the restaurant like a maniac! The funny part about it, more people oooh and ahhh over my child because he is better behaved!!!!

 

[Tinker74]

Hate to say it but personally I think its rude and bad manners ti ignore someone if they talk to you. Even if they are a child.
Iam not saying the parents are right to let their children wander...but still.

 

[MushyMushy]

Hate to say it but personally I think its rude and bad manners ti ignore someone if they talk to you. Even if they are a child.
Iam not saying the parents are right to let their children wander...but still.

No, it's rude and just a little bit crazy to go up to total strangers and start a conversation with them, not to mention allowing a young child to be comfortable doing it.

 

[Tinker74]

Yes it is rude...but children of 4 are still learning. It doesn't mean if someone is rude you should be rude back.
I just wouldn't be comfortable with coldly ignoring a little girl. Though I would probably tell her nicely to go back to her mommy.
Its just my opinion..I don't want or need anyone to agree.

 

[MsLeFever]

I wonder what the parent's reaction would have been if you offered her a piece of candy and asked her to sit in your lap.

 

[ducklite]

Has this happened to you anywhere other that WDW?

Yes, we've seen it in TGIF (Although the manager there is very pro-active about telling parents to make their kids sit down) and several other places.

Actually it happened at McD's a few months ago while a co-worker and I were trying to eat lunch.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Hate to say it but personally I think its rude and bad manners ti ignore someone if they talk to you. Even if they are a child.
Iam not saying the parents are right to let their children wander...but still.

We ignore it so as to not encourange it. Or would it be better to tell the child we are not interested in talking to them, and to go bother someone else?

Anne

 

[ducklite]

I wonder what the parent's reaction would have been if you offered her a piece of candy and asked her to sit in your lap.

I'll bet they would have been out of there in ten seconds flat.

Anne

 

[Tinker74]

We ignore it so as to not encourange it. Or would it be better to tell the child we are not interested in talking to them, and to go bother someone else?

Anne

No ..Like I said in my post..I would tell the little girl ..nicely...to go back to her mommy.

 

[crazyme5kids]

It wouldn't float in our house. Our kids were taught very early on that they sat and behaved in restaurants. I have 5 kids, I work with kids, but I still don't like to have other peoples kids come over to my table or running around or screaming while I'm out trying to eat.

 

[ducklite]

No ..Like I said in my post..I would tell the little girl ..nicely...to go back to her mommy.

Since when is it my job to parent? Her mother was four feet away. I prefer the other posters idea of letting my husband offer her candy to sit in his lap--loudly enough for her parents to hear.

Anne

 

[shortbun]

While I would speak to any child who spoke to me with parent present, I would never have allowed my son to do this in a restaurant. Also, the second time the child appeared, I would have said, "sweetie, go back to your table, we are trying to eat."

eta, in my 53 years, this has never happened to me and I can not recall seeing it happen. I've been to WDW many times and frequently eat in restaurants. I can understand that a couple of parents at dinner with two small children at a WDW restaurant might feel comfortable allowing their children to wander a bit.

 

[auntpolly]

I think I would have....well, I take that back, I know I would have (because I've done this) say, "You need to go back to your table sweetie - we are having our dinner here". And when they don't listen or come back, I've said to the parents, "Excuse me, I think you've lost someone over here! Do you mind coming over and getting her?"

That said, we are sometimes in the mood to talk to really nice little kids - there have been times that we really enjoyed it when little kids started talking to us.

I think it's really weird when the parents just assume it's OK with other people - they are just egocentric and rude - but if the kid is a nice little kid and they aren't interupting anything important, sometimes it's nice.