16 February 2024 , 09:24
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Whether or not badly behaved children should be allowed in higher-end restaurants is a debate that often rages.
One child-free couple were left seething after their Valentine's Day date turned into chaos thanks to one "poorly behaved child". The pair, who are in their mid-20s, went to a "nicer restaurant" as a treat, which the woman described as "a step above the average chain" but a "step below fine dining" - so they were getting ready for a fancy evening of fun.
However, when they were seated and settled in, it soon became apparent that things were going to go downhill, as there was a girl, around five or six, who "constantly made noise, ran and jumped" near their table, and there was a baby sitting near them too, meaning they were in the middle of children.
The woman took to Reddit to explain what had happened, saying that the parents of the child should've stopped her from being disruptive as she had "no reason" to keep going near them. "Then at one point flicked her hair around, almost touching me and my cutlery", she fumed. "The mum must've seen my facial expression as she occasionally made a half-hearted apology and temporarily herded her child back to her. I'm in my mid-20s and female, so I don't know if her parents assumed I'd find their child endearing."
The unimpressed woman also shared: "The baby screamed horribly every few minutes and no one at their table seemed to do anything to deal with their child for about half an hour, even though they were receiving dirty looks from multiple tables nearby.
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"Why would you go out for Valentine's to a nice restaurant with a poorly behaved child? If you can afford to eat there, you can afford a babysitter. If you can't find a babysitter in time, stay home. Going out for food was a rare treat for me as a child and I would've been removed as soon as I became an inconvenience to people around me, and not taken out again for a long time after that. I'm sure my parents also enjoyed the time to themselves when their children had a babysitter."
In the comments, other people who couldn't stand badly behaved children agreed with what she'd written, with one penning: "Almost the same thing happened to me last Valentine's Day, but there was also baby shark music with no headphones playing." Someone responded: "That is torture! I would have been forced to say something if I heard that playing! You are a stronger person than me!"
Others criticised the parents for being selfish, rather than the kids being badly behaved. They said: "It's pure selfishness. They don't care about the experiences of other diners. They're trying to prove to themselves that their relationship isn't suffering and that they can still go out and have fun even though they're parents. They're not regular boring parents, they're cool parents... or so they want to believe. They don't care if their child is bored or miserable, they just want to brag (lie) to their mommy friends about how little Lakelee is so well-behaved and easy."
Someone else said that their partner would specifically ask for a table in a restaurant "away from any children." Another fumed: "If your child is disruptive you remove them from the restaurant and take them to the car. No server should have to worry about possibly hurting a child because parents can't be bothered to parent in public."