One of my favorite memories of taking a baby to a restaurant was when our firstborn was a couple of months old. I hadn't had mexican in a looong time and I was craving that but I told DH that I didn't think it was a good idea because she was so young, we decided to go and I worried. But she slept the whole time in her pumpkin seat, we were lucky, Lol!
ITA. My kids, who are far from perfect, never did stuff like that. We just didn't allow it and would not have taken them out if they behaved that way at home. Good manners begin at home.And yeah, no 18 month old can sit thru a 2 hour dinner unless s/he is asleep!
DH and I were practicers of "This is what we expect." Especially if it was a new experience for them. At the other end was "We are proud of how you behaved". If we were.
I have found that that really helps as well. A couple of times, my kids (esp. dd) has been out of line at the grocery store. I've found that it really helps if we talk about good behavior as we're walking in.
I don't think there's any one right age kids are ready for restaurants and when my kids were littler I would remind them of expected behavior before we even walked in. I still catch myself doing that, Lol.
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More food for thought--the governmen'ts role:
The truth may be out there but lies are in your head. Terry Pratchett
That's what babies do! It's when they're toddlers and getting mobile that things become difficult.
My kids were great in restaurants, but I also didn't expect them to last hours & hours either.
“Clearly," said Arthur,"you're an idiot- but you're our kind of idiot. Come on.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
ITA. My kids, who are far from perfect, never did stuff like that. We just didn't allow it and would not have taken them out if they behaved that way at home. Good manners begin at home.And yeah, no 18 month old can sit thru a 2 hour dinner unless s/he is asleep!
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