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I’m all for date night.  And I’m also for taking the babies and kids out to (some) restaurants with parents, but what happens when family night out interrupts other people’s couple time?  I wrote about a child who interrupted my date night in Are Children “Little People”?

CNN recently posted an article on toddlers in high-end restaurants.  Not surprisingly, it received thousands of comments from angry diners and compassionate parents.  In Tots at upper-echelon restaurants, Sarah LeTrent wrote that certain fine dining establishments are creating kids’ menus to specifically make them feel welcome.  The menu at Landmarc includes “kids” items such as petite filet mignon and orecchiette.  Though, I must say, I’ve been to Landmarc, and it’s a loud, dark place that I think is suited to children, at least at the 6pm hour.  It’s the quiet fine dining restaurants like Cafe Boulud in which the under-3 crowd creates a raucous.

Reading about the trend toward rolling out the red carpet for kids at high-end restaurants made me wonder, are restaurateurs helping parents spoil their toddlers?  One upset commenter to the CNN article wrote “Hire a babysitter!”  Another asked, “If you were in church would you allow your child to run around the chapel screaming?” 

I understand the anger.  After all, do toddlers really need to be out to dinner on Friday or Saturday nights?  Are we as parents involving them in everything we do because we want to “expose” them to things, or is it secretly because we feel guilty for not giving them enough attention during the week?  Then again, if we want to spend more time with them on weekends, why a high-end restaurant?  Why not go to a local burger joint, cafe or casual Italian restaurant?

I hate to say it, but I think some of us modern parents want to get the best of both worlds.  We want to live our lives to the fullest, enjoy great meals and spend time with our kids.  Since we’re overworked and tired, we try to combine activities and hope it works out.  I know.  I’ve been there.  Even when I plan a nice family dinner out at a casual restaurant, sometimes I find that my expectations were set too high. I have to rush the waiter, ask everyone at the table (usually just my parents or in-laws) not to order appetizers because it takes too much time, and then I request the check when the main course arrives.  Not the most pleasurable way to enjoy a meal!

Perhaps other kids are calmer and easier to manage in restaurants, but all I know is my own situation.   My husband and I would never want to take our toddler to a “nice” restaurant a) because we don’t want to bother others with the occasional crying and screaming, and b) because we can’t enjoy the food or even taste the food when we’re acting like clowns entertaining our son.

What do you think about young children in high-end restaurants?  Children are a part of our society.  Do they have the right to be there?  What’s your experience in taking your children out?  Have you ever changed your table at a restaurant to get away from kids?

This entry was posted on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 3:53 pm and is filed under Life-Style, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.