Nice Restaurant Story - Child Related

[Daquiri40]

I took my boyfriend out last Friday night to an upscale restaurant in our city.  The hostess sat us in a smaller room with a large table set up for 12 and 4 small tables.  We sat at the small table.  Our waiter came, we ordered drinks and were served them.  As we were looking at the menus, a grandmother, daughter, and two children came in.  The one child was an infant in a carrier and the other child was a 2/12 to 3 year old boy. 

The boy immediately sat down on the floor.  The grandmother asked him what he was going to eat for dinner, etc.  The grandfather came in and told the boy he could not sit on the floor and needed to sit in a chair.  Cue a meltdown - the boy; not the grandfather.  The grandfather said oh no - you are going to the car and picked up the boy.  The boy screamed all the way to the door.

I quietly asked the waiter if we could be seated somewhere else.  The waiter got the hostess who took us to another table in a bigger part of the restaurant.

We had just ordered when another waitress (not ours) came and asked us if we were the couple that moved from the small room.  I was kind of embarrassed and told her yes we were.  She said the grandfather felt so bad that we moved, he wanted to buy us both a drink!  We declined but said to thank him and it was really not a problem.  She said "no one ever offers anything!!"  She was pretty surprised also.

Anyway, we had a wonderful dinner.  By the way, there was a couple with a 3 year old boy sitting behind us at our new table, who was as quiet as a mouse.

[FoxPaws]

Kudos to Grandpa for taking control and responsibility for the situation. I'm glad your dinner turned out stress free.

[AnnaJ]

*applause*  Grandfather was awesome, and glad you had a wonderful dinner.

[TootsNYC]

Interesting, though, that Grandma didn't say, "get up off the floor, get in a chair."

That inconsistency was probably part of the meltdown.

I know that my own daughter would really come unglued if she was doing something I had approved and then someone else told her to change.

[WillyNilly]

^ Well the grandmother didn't actually say the kid could sit on the floor, she just ignored that the kid was doing it and moved on to the next order of business.

[BeagleMommy]

Yay, Grandpa!  I sometimes wonder how people don't realize what danger there is in letting a child sit on the floor of a restaurant.

OP, glad you had a good time.

[sourwolf]

Interesting, though, that Grandma didn't say, "get up off the floor, get in a chair."

That inconsistency was probably part of the meltdown.

I know that my own daughter would really come unglued if she was doing something I had approved and then someone else told her to change.

I can't blame Grandpa, it's never appropriate for children to be sitting on the floor in a restaurant - in fact it's a disaster waiting to happen!  I bet grandma would have had something to say if a tray of hot food was spilled on him.

[TootsNYC]

Interesting, though, that Grandma didn't say, "get up off the floor, get in a chair."

That inconsistency was probably part of the meltdown.

I know that my own daughter would really come unglued if she was doing something I had approved and then someone else told her to change.

I can't blame Grandpa, it's never appropriate for children to be sitting on the floor in a restaurant - in fact it's a disaster waiting to happen!  I bet grandma would have had something to say if a tray of hot food was spilled on him.

Oh, I don't blame Grandpa!! I blame Grandma, actually.
If the kid took her lack fo comment as permission, then she suckered him into that, and that was pretty mean!

[elephantschild]

Why did you ask to be seated somewhere else if the problem had already been handled? 

And good for Grandpa.   I've been there, done that.

[JeanFromBNA]

Why did you ask to be seated somewhere else if the problem had already been handled? 

And good for Grandpa.   I've been there, done that.

Not the OP, but I would have sized up the entire situation as not conducive to fine dining, and had asked to be moved as well.

[Daquiri40]

Why did you ask to be seated somewhere else if the problem had already been handled?

Because Grandpa and the little boy were going to be coming back in at some point.  The room was not that large and because the place is a "lodge", the walls were logs and the noise echoed.

Having a party of 12 which included small children, was not going to be quiet.  We were there celebrating my boyfriend's birthday and we wanted a nice, peaceful dinner.

Maybe the little boy was perfectly behaved once the grandpa brought him back.  I did not want to take that chance though.

[sourwolf]

Interesting, though, that Grandma didn't say, "get up off the floor, get in a chair."

That inconsistency was probably part of the meltdown.

I know that my own daughter would really come unglued if she was doing something I had approved and then someone else told her to change.

I can't blame Grandpa, it's never appropriate for children to be sitting on the floor in a restaurant - in fact it's a disaster waiting to happen!  I bet grandma would have had something to say if a tray of hot food was spilled on him.

Oh, I don't blame Grandpa!! I blame Grandma, actually.
If the kid took her lack fo comment as permission, then she suckered him into that, and that was pretty mean!

Thank you for clarifying, I thought you were saying that Grandpa was the one causing the problem by telling him to not do something that was being tacitly approved of by Grandma.

[elephantschild]

Why did you ask to be seated somewhere else if the problem had already been handled?

Because Grandpa and the little boy were going to be coming back in at some point.  The room was not that large and because the place is a "lodge", the walls were logs and the noise echoed.

Having a party of 12 which included small children, was not going to be quiet.  We were there celebrating my boyfriend's birthday and we wanted a nice, peaceful dinner.

Maybe the little boy was perfectly behaved once the grandpa brought him back.  I did not want to take that chance though.

Makes sense. I might feel the same way if I was out with my husband.  Sorry, you hit a nerve.

We've had people move when we enter a dining room with our two kids ... before they even get a chance to see how they'll behave. We work very hard to be sure our kids know how to behave in restaurants, and to be immediately labeled as "a problem" irks me.

That situation, though ... I see what  you mean!

[Quiltin Nana]

Was the daughter that came in with them mother of the children?  If so, she should have been the one to tell the child to get off the floor and sit nicely in the chair.  Maybe Grandma didn't say anything because she knew that the daughter wouldn't take it well if Grandma corrected the boy.   

But I was glad to hear that Grandpa took care of the situation.   

[Fleur]

Why did you ask to be seated somewhere else if the problem had already been handled?

Because Grandpa and the little boy were going to be coming back in at some point.  The room was not that large and because the place is a "lodge", the walls were logs and the noise echoed.

Having a party of 12 which included small children, was not going to be quiet.  We were there celebrating my boyfriend's birthday and we wanted a nice, peaceful dinner.

Maybe the little boy was perfectly behaved once the grandpa brought him back.  I did not want to take that chance though.

Makes sense. I might feel the same way if I was out with my husband.  Sorry, you hit a nerve.

We've had people move when we enter a dining room with our two kids ... before they even get a chance to see how they'll behave. We work very hard to be sure our kids know how to behave in restaurants, and to be immediately labeled as "a problem" irks me.

That situation, though ... I see what  you mean!

As long as people aren't rude about it, as in throw you nasty looks or ask to be moved in a loud aggressive voice, there is nothing rude about asking to move so as not to be next to kids. Some people just don't want to sit near them, which isn't rude.