A restaurant full of children!

[Betsy]

Last weekend DH and I decided to try out a new chinese restraunt. Its a buffet and since it was a friday we expected to find it reasonably busy and loud. When we got in we were pleased to discover it was neither busy nor loud, with only about 7 tables filled, and were quite happy with the atmosphere. It was only after about 30 minutes of enjoying our rather plesant dinner that I noticed that not only was there 1 family with smallish children that there were 3 tables all with smallish children, totalling close to 20 kids. None of which were up running around, talking at the top of their lungs or anything else that normally makes me displeased with children.

I was so pleased to be able to get through an entire dinner w/o being inundated with child-noise that I wanted to applaud the parent's parenting, however DH thought it might be rude to point out that their kids werent being rude. So instead I decided to post about it on here to counteract the stories of hellion-children taking over a perfectly nice dinner out.

Bravo for parents who train their kids how to behave properly in public.

[Chartreuse]

Amen to that!  Massive props to that family!

I love my sister in law.  She's trained my four year old nephew well.  He's a normal kid, but he knows how to sit down and behave when he's somewhere besides home.  He's quiet at restaurants, doesn't fling food, doesn't run around, is polite, and generally is good about not staring at other patrons.  He's not perfect, but he's a joy to be around when out and about.  It sometimes nearly kills him to sit still, but he'll do it.   

My mom said it best:  kids are trainable.  Well behaved kids always make me smile.  They do get ignored over the little bratlings, but they're not extinct.

[stanthedevil]

When children are particularly well behaved, I'll often just stop by the parents on my way out and say, "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I just wanted to say that you have a lovely family."  Then I move on.  All it takes is a few seconds of my time.  I know that when people did that for my parents when we were younger, it would make their day.

[Venus193]

When children are particularly well behaved, I'll often just stop by the parents on my way out and say, "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, but I just wanted to say that you have a lovely family."  .

I did this once.  One morning in a diner near my post office there was a father with two kids between the ages of 8 and 10 who were very polite and even grammatical.  The boy started a horror story game while they were waiting for their breakfast to be served, and he sort of teased his father (in a good-natured way) about how he always talks to people.  On my way out I complimented the father on his polite and intelligent children and also said to the kids that I hoped they would have as outgoing a nature as their dad.  They all thanked me.  I must have made their day.

[Slartibartfast]

I would have probably stopped by one of the all-kid tables to say "I just wanted to tell you how impressed I am at your good restaurant manners!" - but that's probably the children's librarian in me talking 

[gjcva1]

agree with all who suggested complimenting the parents and/or the children on their good restaurant manners.  it's immediate feedback for the children, and coming from an unrelated adult, it really brings the point home so much more than a compliment from Mom or Dad would.  at least that's how it worked with my kids. 

[HogwartsAlum]

agree with all who suggested complimenting the parents and/or the children on their good restaurant manners.  it's immediate feedback for the children, and coming from an unrelated adult, it really brings the point home so much more than a compliment from Mom or Dad would.  at least that's how it worked with my kids. 

Oh yes, definitely.  Sometimes I think kids think Mom and Dad are the only ones who care if they behave or not (at least we did!) and it is always helpful to know that other people notice.  Especially when they are being good!

Hee hee, my mom would always say "Santa Claus is watching you..." when we were being bratty.  It worked for a while....

[audhs]

They all thanked me.  I must have made their day.

You probably did.  I was told the other day that my 2 year old was the most polite child in the church nursery (these kids are 1 and 2 years old) because she was the only one who said please and thankyou when she wanted crackers.    It certainly made my day to know that she was being polite with others since she's been such a defient little one since the baby was born.

[Alida]

I used to beam when people would come up to compliment DD on her behavior as a small child.  We do a lot of traveling and eating out.  By the age of 3, DD dined with us in 3 and 4 star restaurants, as good as gold (thank God, I would have died of embarassment otherwise!). 

I really think the parents and the children would have been happy to have been complimented on how well behaved the children were.  It's so much nicer than having to complain about them.

[kareng57]

I agree - it's really not-out-of-this-world to teach kids how to behave in restaurants.  Of course a lot of it is based on what happens at home.   If the kids generally eat pizza or chicken-nuggets in front of the TV, naturally it's unrealistic to expect them to automatically know how to behave in a sit-down restaurant.

I do remember when my kids were about 7 and 8, and we were visiting the tearoom at the Cranbrook Railway Museum (it's excellent if anyone is ever in the area of south-eastern BC).  We'd all wanted a snack, and the boys asked if they were allowed to sit at a table by themselves, across from us.  We said okay, and actually there were quite a few compliments given our way, usually by senior-people. It wasn't unprescedented-though, a few months earlier I'd gotten a similar compliment in church.  I hadn't known that there was no SundaySchool that day, so they'd had to stay with me in the sanctuary.  A very nice elderly gentleman complimented me on their behaviour.  Well okay, they were most likely a bit bored, but did the fact that they weren't performing acrobaticcs among the pews deserve a compliment?   I know I'm old-fashioned but I taught my kids that there are sometimes that you "sit down and shut up".

[Alida]

I know I'm old-fashioned but I taught my kids that there are sometimes that you "sit down and shut up".

We taught Roo that there's a time for play.. but sitting down to dinner wasn't it

[BurninDinner]

I'm the oldest of five kids.  When we went out to dinner, people frequently stopped to tell my parents how well-behaved we were.  We were very proud of ourselvs. 

[Clara Bow]

I would have told them that they had a great group of kids and that they were to be complimented highly on their good behavior.
We taught our son to behave in public and I get compliments on him all the time. It makes my day!

[IndianInlaw]

I have a kindergarten aged kid (who could fit in your pocket) who thanks me every single time she goes by my crossing guard corner. (She's with Dad).

[Clara Bow]

How sweet! I know that brightens up your day!