Parenting Inaction!

[Crossbow]

Gorilla Glue.
Applied at each end.

You win one Internet. Best line of the day.

[Seshat]

if there are a lot of little kids in the store that's a very good position to stop them racing outside. Most parents thank me, a few have given me dirty looks...I'd love to see one of the latter try to complain.

If anyone does and someone like any of us is a customer; I'm sure you'll get a witness who thinks the complaining parents are IDIOTS.

[dalesys]

Gorilla Glue.
Applied at each end.

I love you.

You win one Internet. Best line of the day.

I *do* have eight younger siblings and six children...

surviving.

[cashierbex]

I am so glad my cousins are well behaved. The ones I know anyways. Cleaned up after themselves and everything.

My aunt out in Arizona had a family and their boys over. They were harrassing my cousins. I "accidently" hit one of the boys with a pillow. He was crying. Such a wuss. Didn't hit him that hard. My mom said "Good job" to me and that was the end of that. Don't mess with my cousins.

[DeltaSierra]

But seriously...I really dislike parents that don't bother to control their kids in a restaurant. I brought my son up to know how to behave in a restaurant because I refused to be one of 'those' parents.

My hubby's ex's brother (ex-BIL?)'s three sons were such unholy terrors when they went out to restaurants that every one in the area knew them on sight, and they would not get seated until ex-BIL slipped the server a $20 to compensate for the mess they'd make. I thought this was an exaggeration until I heard the same stories repeated by server friends of hubby had experienced the messes left by the kids.

[Cecily]

It's not that hard to get kids to behave in restaurants. Start them young, be clear and never, EVER, ease up on the rules. We've had compliments on their behaviour from waiters / other customers / owners. And it made our lives so much easier.

Our rules : No moving out of your seat unless to go to the washroom with a parent. Indoor voice only. Please and thank you are not optionnal. Keep you toys/crayons next to you.

That's it... four rules.

[raudf]

Also, setting the example helps teach the kid how to behave. Parents that yell at their kid to use their indoor voice is... irritating, especially in a restaurant. Way to set the example, dude. Even when I order the kiddos to do something it still begins with a "please," and then it's done I thank them. But some parents think they are exempt from the very manners they expect their offspring to have!

I feel bad when my kid leaves a mess. I try to get it sorted, but the floor is an issue I can't always correct. To give the kiddo credit, he's only 14 months, but is still very well behaved for his age. He gets watched by three people, (his big brother is 11 and helps out a lot!) and one of us usually has a hand or eye on him.

[mathnerd]

My boys are, well, boys. They can be holy terrors, and I've definitely had my share of embarrassing moments with them when they were little. Kids will do stupid stuff, and yes, even two year olds can get into an insane amount of trouble in the blink of an eye. I was not, however, afraid to deal with bad behavior on the spot. I've left stores without getting my shopping done, left restaurants before a meal was served and left events before they were over if they acted inappropriately, and boy did all hell break loose when we got home! (And yes, I did pay for any food consumed before I left restaurants or alerted grocery store staff that I had to abandon a cart and apologize profusely for it.) It only took once or twice with each kid to drive home the point that I simply would not tolerate bad behavior in public.

These days I get complimented all the time on how lovely and polite my children are. Not that I don't have problems with them. I do. They're teens/preteens. Kids do stupid stuff from time to time. But in general they're pretty good kids.

[Chromatix]

and yes, even two year olds especially can get into an insane amount of trouble in the blink of an eye.

Fixed that for you. Two-year-olds are *notorious* for it.

[mathnerd]

Good point.

[Kogarashi]

It's not that hard to get kids to behave in restaurants. Start them young, be clear and never, EVER, ease up on the rules. We've had compliments on their behaviour from waiters / other customers / owners. And it made our lives so much easier.

Our rules : No moving out of your seat unless to go to the washroom with a parent. Indoor voice only. Please and thank you are not optionnal. Keep you toys/crayons next to you.

That's it... four rules.

EXACTLY. My children are extremely well-behaved in restaurants, and it's because we teach them how to behave. The only dinner table I've ever seen them goof off at is our own, and even then we do what we can to immediately curb that behavior, rather than allow it because "kids will be kids." While true, the statement is not meant to be an excuse.

For the same reason, I've never had to escort my children out of the store mid-shopping trip because they know that rowdy, screaming, disruptive behavior and "gimmie" demands are not acceptable. Treats are a reward for good behavior, not a bribe to avoid bad. I can honestly say they have never thrown a fit when I've had to turn down requests for a treat. I may get sad faces or the occasional sniffle, but that's a reasonable expression of disappointment. But they understand that "not today" doesn't mean "not ever again," it just means "we can't right now, and don't argue."

Which is why I get frustrated just being around parents whose children turn into wild monsters and the parents just blithely ignore it rather than attempting to do something about it. And yes, it does mean that there are occasional people I've been to restaurants or stores with who I generally don't want to go out with again because their children are all over the place and the parents just go on talking as if their child isn't running underfoot in a restaurant.

[Kitten in the box]

One time i was at a Chuck E. Cheese with my brother and his son for the kid's birthday. well my nephew was having a blast playing with his pizza and i was off playing skee ball when i encountered a kid no older than 3 dart across my playing field not once but 3-4 times. then he decided to sit right in the center of my game lane. i asked him 4x to move because i do not want to see him get hurt. he refused. so i gently removed him from the field and told him to find his parents who were right beside me chatting away. they did not like me moving him from where he was and i explained to him that the skee balls move at a fast pace and i do not want to see him hurt by the balls. then and only then did they seem to understand and apologize for "not realizing" where he was. i mean come on. this kid was big for a 3 year old and could use a cutback on his food i am sorry to say. how can you not see him? and worse of all, if you cannot see him or know where he is at, how the hell will you manage if he decides to run off with someone who offers him candy or a toy??

[greensinestro]

I can't even imagine the fun the theatergoers will have with this bunch.

Too bad you didn't decide to follow them there to find out. Now that would be a memorable story for sure.

[RealUnimportant]

Parents that yell at their kid to use their indoor voice is... irritating

My recently-moved-out downstairs neighbour had a habit of yelling every form of communication at her kids... And the number of times I heard her say "don't you shout at me" was ridiculous. Poor little buggers, they were generally nice kids as far as I could tell.