Crying kid in diner ignites Facebook war between mom, owner

[xmas74]

95. Actually, you do teach them not to melt down.

How do you do this? It's not hard. I was a single mother and I took my child nearly everywhere with me. If I wanted to go out to eat, she went with me. If I wanted to go to a movie, she went with me. She learned how to act in public at a very young age.

So, how is it done? When you take a young child out to eat you do the following things:

1) Bring something to keep them occupied. Not a loud toy or anything of that nature but a coloring book, maybe a plush toy or even a story book to read together.

2) Interact with the child. Point things out on the menu to them, ask them what they want to eat (even if they won't tell you or can't quite say it yet), talk about the table or the wall paper or anything. Just interact with them.

3) When you place the order ask how long it will take. If the server says there are a number of customers ahead of you consider leaving. Tell the server that you'd love to stay but don't think you're child can wait that long and tell them that you'll be back another time when it's not so busy or without your child. It's not a big deal but please do it before the order is placed.

If you know there will be a wait and you decide to stay:
-Always bring a snack before you ever leave the house. I always had packs of raisins in my purse or snack crackers.
-Ask the server if they have fruit, saltines or even dry cereal on hand that can be brought out with your drinks, in case you've forgotten your snack.
-Don't sit the entire time, waiting for the order. Get up with the little one and walk around, stretch your legs. As long as you stay out of the staff's way this isn't a problem at most places.
-Keep interacting with the child. Show interest.
-For pity's sake, when the food is delivered immediately attend to the child. Get that pancake cut up and ready for the little one to snack on. The adults can wait another minute, little one has waited far too long.
-Finally, if little one starts crying it's time to go outside. Take them out to walk around outdoors, if possible. As you're walking out the door let a server know that you'll be back in a few minutes to finish up. If it takes more than five minutes to calm down pop back in the door long enough to tell a server that you'll be leaving and you'd appreciate it if your meal could be packed up to go.

Over time the kids learn how to act in public places and it's not such a big deal. I left a restaurant once with my child-just once. She knew why we left. The next time we went back she did well and never had a problem. She was two years old. It's not a bad thing to teach a child how to act in public and the sooner they learn it easier it is for everyone around them.