Saturday Night Rules

Our kids are well-behaved enough that we have taken them to business dinners (they were invited once by a salesman, and their reputation spread to the point that they were always invited after that).

HOWEVER. When we eat out with the kids, it's Johnny Rockets or something. NOT the wine bar. Good grief. You know my thoughts on kids at adult movies, too!

Our favorite date night was once when we made PB&J for the kids & put them bed early, then cooked a gourmet dinner together & ate by candlelight. No one had to be the designated driver, and we left the dishes for the next morning. Forty feet from the table to the bedroom. Nice.

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This one kills me. People are so stupid about their kids (and usually their dogs) and where they can bring them to that is appropriate. As if the kid shouldn't be getting high quality quiet night time sleep at this hour? As if the movie theater decibel level isn't actually causing harm to their eardrums? Why are you people so confident that your kid or dog couldn't possibly bother anyone else around you when I get uncomfortable when my kid just rolls their eyes?

I thought I would be less 'judgy' when I became a parent myself? These people make it hard. We, too, have a date night and I have three toddlers at home. The last thing I need on date night at an expensive restaurant is to listen to an infant crying unattended to (be it for good or bad reason, crying needs to stop!) practically making me lactate while trying to chew my filet. I suppose the restaurant benefits from the extra wine I drink. Such jerks. Do I sound bitter?

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2nd Corollary to #3: The Blessed toys shall be tethered so as not to become projectiles. And under no circumstance do you make a game of "baby throw-parent pick up-return to baby-repeat"

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I never understood how parents take their young kids out after 8 or 9pm, or to any evening movies. I feel guilty taking my daughter to see G or PG movies after lunchtime!

And I LOVE your idea of ordering pizza or chinese after the kiddos are in bed. We will definitely need to try that.

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Amen.

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Great rules! There's a time and a place to bring your kids out. They can learn their restaurant manners at more family friendly places. Save the good ones for when the kids are old enough to show their manners, not drive everyone crazy.

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Chuck almost died when he went to see Avatar and the couple behind him had an eight month old with them–one who screamed through most of the movie. What are people thinking?

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We have taken our kids to dinner with us (we never had date night) but only to places that had other children and where coloring on the table cloth was encouraged. I took my niece to a movie when she was two (lion king) she was mesmerized the whole time and didn't make a sound. I tried it with both my children at about the same age (also Disney movies) neither of them could sit still without talking for more than 15 minutes. I took neither of them to another movie until they were old enough to sit still without talking for the duration of the movie. For my son it was when he was 6, I suspect I might be able to take my daughter to a movie again when she is 34.

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I take my children out a lot. Not to movies. My eldest could sit quietly at a movie at the age of 2; my son can't do so at 6. Not sure about the youngest, but I can wait. Still, we go to restaurants and stores all the time. 95 times out of a hundred, they are fantastically behaved.Potentially messy but non-disruptive. I get compliments on their behavior all the time.

However, 5 times out a hundred, one of 'em gets to be a nightmare. Mostly, we can readily leave and do (two times my son's behavior equated with a vomit geyser minutes later – there are some problems with not talking). Sometimes, it's not so easy and, the bigger the family group or more advanced the situation, the more difficult it can be to leave without repercussions.

What's my point? I can be irritated by children screaming and causing a stir, but I try to remember that many children, though generally best behaved, have bad moments, atypical and embarrassing. Sometimes I/we can extricate them easily, but sometimes I/we can't. I suspect many parents know that feeling, particularly anyone who's crossed the ocean with small ones in a plane, for instance. I know it's not always atypical, but then I suspect a substantial percentage of parents with children who routinely misbehave are self-centered and thoughtless. They won't change their ways and, for the rest of us, you're preaching to the choir.

If people are considerate, no one has to tell them not to torment innocent bystanders. If they're not, telling them is ineffective.

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I just don't leave my house. It's better that way.

Thing1 is wild and by wild I mean she has the complete inability to sit still or be quiet, EVER. She missed that gene. Unfortunately whenever the ILs come to town they prefer to eat out and insist we all go with them on occasion. It never goes well for any of us and often ends in my FIL blowing up and getting physical with Thing1, and me blowing up at them for getting physical with a child (period) who is only acting in an age appropriate manner. I did tell them so. But they never listen.

We were so in shock over Thing1 that we never even tried with Thing2, until very recently, at which point we discovered that she does posess the gene which allows her to sit still and be quiet… without even being asked!

I'll never get over how different siblings can be. (<—– only child)

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And thou shalt not changeth the diaper at the table.

I know, I know. You're gasping. Surely no one would do such a thing, right? Wrong. I met up with a mom for Mexican food when Mr. M was in a moses basket and she changed her almost one-year old right there . . . at the table. Everyone in the restaurant got a view of his birthday suit. I wanted to dive under table and never come out.

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This, aside from the movie thing, is one of my biggest pet peeves. I cannot understand why parents think it is ok to take your child to an adult resteraunt, and then why said parents tend to get loudly insulted when someone (usually a waitstaff) says something politely about the wee screaming child.

I used to know someone like this, her children never sat still and were always overly loud in every resteraunt we ever went to. It got to the point where I couldn't go anywhere with her because she refused to handle the behavior, or leave them at home. Thank God we moved.

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These are just some of the reasons why my first daughter never saw the inside of a restaurant until she was 3.

PS: I'm so with on you on taking young kids to the movies. I just don't get it. If you have to lean in and explain, or cover their ears/eyes every few minutes then THEY SHOULDN'T BE THERE.

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Sometimes our extended family wants to go to a nice place for a birthday dinner. My compromise is to make the reservations at 4:30pm or earlier and ask ahead of time that we be at the edge of a room because of the young children. Of course the children (daughter and nephew) still have to behave and I bring a wide selection of quiet toys that work well on a small space of table. Drives me batty when I see parents who aren't willing to do the work required to keep their children from bothering others.

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We see them around here, the people with their infants and small children tagging along to midnight showings of R rated movies! Why?! The husband and I rarely get out alone, the times I do get away without the kids I tend to have a sense of humor about other people's misbehaved brood during dinner. Haha. That's not my problem. Although your list should be adhered to without question. Particularly the one about diaper changes. Gurg.

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Someone who's crafty should donate a list of these to parents before they leave the hospital.You know along with car seat rules and the cough into your elbow advice.

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