I have 3 kids, so I am approaching this from the perspective of a parent. Dining out with kids is hard. I get that. Believe me. I do. But we have a responsibility as parents to try our best to make sure that having our kids with us in a restaurant doesn't ruin the dining experience of those around us. With that in mind, I've come up with what I think are 10 essential rules for dining out with children.
1. If your child is being loud or disruptive, take them out of the situation.
Nobody wants to eat near a screaming child. I don't like eating with my own children when they are screaming, much less when someone else's kid is screaming at a different table. If your child is screaming or inconsolable, take them out of the situation. Take them to the bathroom or for a quick walk outside to give them a chance to calm down before going back to your seats. If that doesn't work, get a to-go box and go home.
2. Do not let your kids run around the restaurant.
Unless you are at Chuck-e-Cheese or a Burger King with a play area, make your kids stay in their seat. It's disruptive, and they get in the way of servers trying to do their jobs. If you know your child has a tendency to wander around during meals, plan ahead. Bring coloring sheets and crayons, books, or something else to keep them occupied in their seats while they wait for the food to arrive.
3. Take your kids to kid-friendly restaurants.
There is a spectrum of kid friendliness for restaurants. Chuck-e-Cheese is on one extreme. It's a restaurant designed to appeal to children. The food isn't great, but the kids love it. Then there are fast food restaurants with play areas. Again, the food isn't great (ok, it's terrible), but the kids love it. A new option in town that my family loves is Coach's in McGregor. They have an outdoor play area that's completely fenced in, so you can send the kids out to play while the grown-ups can have a peaceful conversation.
Kid-friendliness doesn't have to mean play area, though. Near the middle of the spectrum, I see places like Rosa's and George's as being kid-friendly. Rosa's is kid-friendly because it's a big, noisy restaurant with plenty of high chairs and a place where the kids can watch them make tortillas. George's is kid-friendly because there is plenty of background noise to drown out your kids, and they have plenty of high chairs and coloring activities for the kids.
4. Do not take your kids to upscale restaurants.
Upscale restaurants are the epitome of non kid-friendliness. Any restaurant where you should dress a little nicer and an average entree costs more than $20 is a place you should never take your kids. For one thing, they won't appreciate the level of dining at a restaurant like that, so why waste the money? Also, people go to upscale restaurants for a nice, peaceful meal with other adults. They don't want their $200 meal spoiled by unruly children.
5. If your child is consistently loud or disruptive when you go out to eat, consider staying home or hiring a babysitter.
There is no rule that says your kid has to go to a restaurant to eat with you. If you really want to get out of the house and eat at a restaurant, hire a babysitter and leave the loud ones at home.
6. If your child makes a mess, make an effort to clean it up.
Yes, there are people at restaurants whose job it is to clean up after customers. But they shouldn't have to spend a lot of time cleaning up after your messy kids. If your kid makes a mess, do your best to try and clean it up. Most of the time, someone on staff will stop you and clean it up for you, but it's just common courtesy to clean up when you or your kid makes a bigger-than-usual mess.
7. If your child is sick, stay home.
Kids are usually walking germ infestations anyway, but especially when they are sick. No one needs your sick kid around their food, so just keep them at home. Give them time to get well before taking them out in public around other people. I can't believe I'm even writing this. It should just go without saying.
8. Do not let your younger kids go to the restroom by themselves.
I'm not sure what the cutoff age should be, but younger kids should not go to the restrooms by themselves. For one thing, it's pretty much guaranteed that they will make a mess that some poor restaurant employee will have to clean up. It's also about their safety.
9. Put away your phone and pay attention to your kids.
This rule is as much for me as it is for anyone else. I'm guilty of taking out my phone at dinner time to check my email, Facebook, Twitter, the score of a game, etc., but I try to keep the phone in my pocket. It's just a bad habit that we all need to get rid of. A lot of times your kid is being unruly because they just want your attention. In their minds, negative attention is better than no attention. Put your phone away.
10. If your kids make your server's job more difficult, take that into account when calculating their tip.
If they make a mess, have weird, picky preferences for their food, or if they are demanding little brats (no, not your kid, that other person's kid), it tends to make the job of a server more difficult than it needs to be. Be aware of it, and consider tipping a little extra if your server is able to put up with it and do it with a smile.
We go out to eat with our kids quite often, and we try to follow these rules as much as we can. We're not perfect because nobody is, but I think making a sincere effort to be aware of how your kids' behavior is affecting other people goes a long way. What other rules can you think of that people should follow when dining out with their kids?
