Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I work in a store that is pet friendly and everyone who works there agrees that we would rather have people bring their pets in than kids. I don't know why some parents feel it is ok to shop and let their kids run all over the store, tearing up everything in sight. Some parents have terrible parenting skills and seem oblivious to what their kids are doing. They also run up and down the aisles, chasing each other, and our older shoppers have to dodge them to keep from getting knocked over.
I've gotten old enough that I will say to a parent "I'm sorry to have to mention this , but could you please watch your children more closely, they are tearing up the store?" The same people will be wondering why their kids are getting into trouble when they hit their teens, and won't have a clue how that happened.
We all know people who have kids that we dread being around because of their bad behavior.
I'm on the other end of this thread, I have no kids, butI used to be a bus boy at a local chain restaurant. I would say for the most part parents would clean up as much of the mess as they could, but other times I would spend way to much time cleaning crackers and wrappers, bits and pieces of hot dogs and mac and cheese on, and under the table and all over the seats, crayons and kids menus everywhere. I catch my self stacking empty dishes and wiping the table off when ever I go out to eat now.
We try to clean up if there's a big mess on the floor. I'm not worried about leaving the place spotless though. Most of the time the waiter will just tell me not to worry about it. I don't think it's a big deal honestly
Since I grew up working at my parents restaurant it really annoyed me when I saw kids making a mess b'c I'd say 90% of the time, parents just left the table one huge mess. We weren't one of those tip giving restaurants but we did have to come to your table to bring you your food and pick up your plates. Tipping wasn't the norm.
So now as an adult with a toddler myself, I try to clean up as much as I can when we go to a restaurant. Or, if I am by myself with kiddo and it's harder to watch her and clean up after her, then I leave a very generous tip. I still try to tidy up what I can though.
We go to Chipotle a lot and this place is the only exception. When we eat outside, I let kiddo go to town with the rice and naturally, she leaves a huge mess. Although I clean off the table, I usually let the floor be. I figured the birds will get to it. Hehe.
I just don't understand it when people LET (yes I said LET) their children be so messy and then don't even think to clean up after them. I also don't understand it when they let their children throw crayons and other objects that land at my feet and their children are constantly screaming. The parents just ignore it.
When my children were young I would engage in games and other things to keep them from ruining someone else's dinner. And the food all over the floor thing....to me that is just lazy both from the standpoint of not cleaning up afterwards but why is it there in the first place??? Parents just put tons of finger foods in front of their kids in hopes that that will keep them busy and then they just ignore it when the child starts to drop (or throw) it. And gosh forbid my child started to scream I would just pick him or her up and take them out of the restaurant until they calmed down. It's not fair to the patrons that are paying for a nice dinner out to have to sit by this nor is it fair to the waiter/waitress that has to get on their hands and knees to clean it up!
Wen the kids were small enough to make a mess at the table, I would to a quick check and clean up what I could before we left. We had a routine... Hubby would grab the check and pay, and then come back to grab the kids to take them to the car. I would then meditate on the free minute of time to finish my water or coffee...and then check over the table for forgotten things and messes.
Now, the kids are older. But, we have a similar arrangement every time we are staying at a hotel. I stay behind and just check things over.
We are quiet people, so kids screaming in public would have been very unusual. It has happened, but we went right home and stuck to our guns early on.
I'll be the only honest parent here - our daughter made lots of messes in lots of public places and we didn't always clean up. The degree of a mess that a 15 month old can make is incredible, and I felt bad everytime that she made a mess. Then I noticed that underneath a chair of any 15 month old there was a mess and it seems to be part of the package.
That's not to say that I thought making a mess was acceptable - it's not. And we'd clean up to the best that we could. Whole goldfish and wrappers should be picked up (and we did). The problem are the broken up bits of goldfish and other crumbles and stuff that fell onto the floor that can't be readily picked up. We don't carry a little vacuum with us, and trying to clean by hand would make more of a scene than letting the wait staff use their hand vacuum on it.
However, I will stay it was embarrasing enough that we avoided taking our kid to restaurants during that time frame....only wet out with her a couple of times.
I have two brothers, and when they were kids they used to compete with each other arranging their unfinished food as unappetizingly as possible on their plate to see if they could turn the bus boy's stomach - mix some melted ice cream and chocolate syrup in the mashed potatoes, add a little ketchup...you get the idea. They did keep it on the plate, though.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Some parents have terrible parenting skills and seem oblivious to what their kids are doing. They also run up and down the aisles, chasing each other, and our older shoppers have to dodge them to keep from getting knocked over.
