THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR!

I’m sure we’ve all had it happen to us, you go into a restaurant, and suddenly, a child starts to misbehave! Loud talking, leaving their seat and sometimes even coming up to you while you dine. It isn’t enough that you must contend with the loud overhead music, you now must deal with a screaming child! You are too far into your meal to get up and leave, so you try to deal with it. The restaurant wishes to remain neutral in the event, for fear of offending the customer involved with the kid, and tries stay in a low profile in hopes that the kid will eventually tone down, or leave.

I once was in a restaurant with #1 Son and Josh Peck, a great actor, and at a distant table a family sat with an obnoxious set of parents, and a child who literally screamed at the top of his lungs! The parents thought it was cute, and the restaurant did nothing about it.

It makes me wonder why we put up with the nonsense, and why restaurants don’t set rules.


Children should be allowed in restaurants to dine with their parents, but should not disturb people in the process. Some argue that banning unruly children would discriminate against children with emotional problems. Well, hello. We do discriminate against children with emotional problems, starting at the parental level! I have a daughter who has developmental disabilities, whenever she behaved unacceptably: we promptly paid our bill, and left, meals unfinished. Or we took the other route, which was NOT to take her to a restaurant to begin with!

There are restaurants that cater primarily to children, and encourage the noise and ruckus that comes with it. I don’t go there because I can’t behave like a child while I’m eating, so keep the kids away from me if they can’t behave. My two boys, while growing up behaved like little gentleman, in that they were children who did not interfere with others rights to dine in peace, and we should all be able to understand that.



So mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, I know your child or grandchild is the cutest kid ever to walk the face of the earth, I know it is the most beautiful to grace civilization, and surely, the smartest, but keep that brat in check in a restaurant.

Thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY NEPHEW DAVID HARROW, TODAY!