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Okay, something that has driven me crazy for quite some time. I moved to Atlanta 5 years ago and was amazed at how many times people bring their children to the bar area and eat.
I'm not a parent myself but my mother and father were concerned about the examples they set for me and what environments I was exposed to as a child.
I've sat at bars and watched mothers/fathers carry on conversations with people while their kids are coloring while sitting on the bar chairs. Drink after drink is ordered and they are telling their kids not to mess with the straws or napkins or something else. I'm thinking in my mind that this child should be sitting with you at the booth somewhere else in this restaurant.
I seriously want to ask WTF? It is not mingling time with your child at the bar. Come on now!
Okay, something that has driven me crazy for quite some time. I moved to Atlanta 5 years ago and was amazed at how many times people bring their children to the bar area and eat.
I'm not a parent myself but my mother and father were concerned about the examples they set for me and what environments I was exposed to as a child.
I've sat at bars and watched mothers/fathers carry on conversations with people while their kids are coloring while sitting on the bar chairs. Drink after drink is ordered and they are telling their kids not to mess with the straws or napkins or something else. I'm thinking in my mind that this child should be sitting with you at the booth somewhere else in this restaurant.
I seriously want to ask WTF? It is not mingling time with your child at the bar. Come on now!
Hmmm ... well ...
I consider myself a pretty good mom. And I am a stickler for parents setting a good example for their kids. But I gotta say, with all the crap that parents do that screws up their kids ... this just doesn't rank very high IMO.
I don't see how it matters much where you are sitting. If you are okay drinking alcohol in front of your kid (which I think we both are, although I think we'd both be against drinking to excess in front of the kids) then what difference does it make where you sit?
The environment at the bar probably isn't much different than the environment a few feet away in a booth.
Now if they are drinking to excess, then that's a problem, especially if they are then driving home. But to be sitting on a barstool coloring while adults around them are ordering drinks. Meh ... I wouldn't do it, but I can find other things to be appalled about.
Last edited by Samantha S; 09-05-2009 at 03:00 PM..
Is there something going on in the bar area that seems dangerous or detrimental? Is there cursing, violence, or sexual activity nearby? How is having a few drinks in the bar section different from having a few drinks in a booth (other than the drinking and driving possibility)? Especially since you said this is the bar area (of a restuaruant, I assume) and not an actual bar. Whole other story there.
I wouldn't do it and it could be considered a questionable decision by the parent, but I can't be up in arms about it.
Okay, something that has driven me crazy for quite some time. I moved to Atlanta 5 years ago and was amazed at how many times people bring their children to the bar area and eat.
I'm not a parent myself but my mother and father were concerned about the examples they set for me and what environments I was exposed to as a child.
I've sat at bars and watched mothers/fathers carry on conversations with people while their kids are coloring while sitting on the bar chairs. Drink after drink is ordered and they are telling their kids not to mess with the straws or napkins or something else. I'm thinking in my mind that this child should be sitting with you at the booth somewhere else in this restaurant.
I seriously want to ask WTF? It is not mingling time with your child at the bar. Come on now!
do you mean like the bar area of a restaurant like Chili's or something similar? It depends on what is going on. Those kinds of bars can get a little rowdy when a game is on, or something, but other times they are the same as any other place in the restaurant. You can normally order the same food and drinks no matter where you sit in the restaurant. I mean their parents could sit some place else and still order drink after drink. Personally, I find it very hard to relax at a restaurant with the kids. We eat and leave usually as quickly as possible.
I grew up going to bars with my parents. I turned out okay. I vividly remember playing on the floor of a local watering hole with my friend while her dad and mine had a few drinks. We actually loved it. The bartender would make us Shirley Temples and give us the little umbrellas or tiny plastic swords to play with. No harm done.
I am a parent of three. I know all three have sat in a bar more than once. We don't take them late at night, but we have sat in a bar area of many sports bars and watched a game, had a few beers and something to eat. I really don't see any harm in this.
Okay, something that has driven me crazy for quite some time. I moved to Atlanta 5 years ago and was amazed at how many times people bring their children to the bar area and eat.
I'm not a parent myself but my mother and father were concerned about the examples they set for me and what environments I was exposed to as a child.
I've sat at bars and watched mothers/fathers carry on conversations with people while their kids are coloring while sitting on the bar chairs. Drink after drink is ordered and they are telling their kids not to mess with the straws or napkins or something else. I'm thinking in my mind that this child should be sitting with you at the booth somewhere else in this restaurant.
I seriously want to ask WTF? It is not mingling time with your child at the bar. Come on now!
It depends- is it a bar at Applebee's, or a bar as in your corner bar where people only go to DRINK alcohol? I've gone to breakfast places and allowed my children to sit at the bar/counter area. No big deal.
I'd be more concerned with the fact that parents are drinking drink after drink, and then having to drive those children...rather than where the children are sitting.
What I can't stand are the people that bring their children into a regular, all out bar, that serves food.
One time they had karaoke at regular bar that served food. It was about 10 o'clock. There was a couple there with some children eating food. I'm out to have a few beers, more than a few, and don't want to have to worry about watching my mouth (in case I curse) or not get too loud. Anyway, some people were there singing some songs that had curse words in it, and the mother came to ask the people not to curse. Hello? YOUR KIDS ARE IN A BAR AFTER 10. Needless to say, the people kept on cursing which I didn't really like (I am a mother after all), but I couldn't blame them. I work with kids all day, and we all know we can relax and go crazy (haha) at the bar, and now there's kids in it? I can't stand that.
The worst case of this I ever saw was when I lived in England. We were at this pub/bar place and these adults (parents and grandparents) kept buying drinks and tossing them back. They had a kid with them, maybe he was 5 or so. They didn't even buy the kid a coke. They just made him sit there while they got loaded. The kid looked so forlorn.
I too don't see anything wrong with sitting in the bar section of a restaurant with kids as long as its not because you are bringing them along while you tie on a bender. I am thinking of places like Chilis where there is full service food and I would be having a meal with the family. It might even be more fun for the kids b/c the sports games are on tv (if they like sports).
I remember as a kid liking the bar areas better b/c they had those video game tables. My brother and I thought it was really cool to have a basket of pretzels, cokes and be playing Ms. Pac Man all at the same time.
I do think bringing the kids along for a night of drinking and making them sit there for hours is a bad idea. I can't even see how that would be enjoyable for anyone.
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