I’m not one to get too self-promote-y, but I couldn’t resist commenting for this RedEye Chicago story about allowing your kids in public places. Do you take your kids out and about? Or do you hide away in only kid-friendly places?
RedEye Alert!
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My rule of thumb: if they have highchairs and take my money, they’re baby-friendly… enough
So, no I don’t think parents and their kids should be relegated to the Chuck E Cheeses’ and McD’s of the world. Yuck! That being said, I only take my kids to places they can handle because, believe me, their tantrums and grubby hands are a bigger annoyance to me than any entitled child-free hipster any day!
So, if hubs and I REALLY want to try a nicer place and the sitter is a no go, we go on… say, a Tuesday. Still, I’ve walked out of plenty of establishments with mac n’cheese and chicken strips on the menu because my 4 year old wouldn’t control himself.
On the other hand, there’s only so much control you can have over SOMEONE else’s behavior… and unfortunately that includes your child. Sometimes, you just find yourself in a bad situation like you did, nursing a littler one while trying to control a wild one, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I’ve been a similar situation except I was changing a dirty diaper while my son terrorized other kids… or so the other mom was all too eager to tattle.
A tattling mom! Now, that’s not cool
Like my wife said in her comment on the web version of the article, if a place carries milk and cookies, it’s family friendly. Between that article and the prior blog post on strollers Red Eye seems intent on leading the charge against children in Chicago. That being said, as the saying goes “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” and you can’t predict when your child is going to have a meltdown 100% of the time. Something is going on in this city and it seems to be popular to have a “children should not be seen or heard” attitude.
Wow, I’m kind of fuming mad b/c I just read the comments to the RedEye story, and everyone is being SO judgmental! How about some understanding here, folks? How about recognizing that bad things (i.e., a screaming 3 year old) can happen when parents are sucky and do not plan properly and drag their kids out to inappropriate places at inappropriate times, but they can also sometimes happen when good parents plan appropriately, keep their kids on a kid-friedly schedule, visit reasonably kid-friendly establishments, and –gasp!– come in out of the freezing cold to feed their babies.
Grrrr….some of those commenters were so maddening! Sara, I hope you will leave a reply their to set them straight.
Look, I get it that kids can be annoying. I don’t even take mine out very often, because it’s just not worth the hassle most of the time. But people need to learn, to at least some extent, to coexist with others, including children. And they need to understand that “stay home!” is not *always* an option, nor is it realistic or a good idea to keep yourself or your children cooped up in your home 100% of the time. There is a large middle ground between only taking your children to McD’s and Chuck E Cheese (which for other reasons, most parents try to avoid!) and showing up with them at “fine” dining restaurants.
As a related aside… I totally respect those adults who are child free by choice. And perhaps many of the commenters to that article currently are and always will be. However, I have to imagine that at least a few of the 20-somethings cited in the article or commenting on it are one day going to have a little baby of their own and may find themselves eating some of their words, don’t you think?
I was totally appalled by the comments to the article, but I’m staying out of the fray. I wanted to comment on the issue, but I have no desire to get wrapped up in the middle of people who just want to go “off” online anonymously. Sean, I think the RedEye isn’t so hell-bent on the anti-kid movement, but just hell-bent on getting eye balls to read even a somewhat lame argument.
I wanted to comment on the redeye blog but I didn’t want to register, pfft. Just wanted to say I get that sometimes your child just acts out, I think I’m pretty understanding for the fact that it gives me a headache. I just wish more parents wouldn’t ignore the tantrums and attempt to deal with it. I know when I was a kid I would be taken out of wherever it is if I acted that way, although it was usually my brother who did that stuff. It just seems these days too many parents just ignore their screaming child, that’s infuriating. Anyway, I’ve never been mean to anyone for a screaming child but I have had to leave an establishment because of a headache.
Wow. Those comments are unbelievable. You are smart to stay out of it. As you well know, the last thing you want to do is give the internet trolls the attention that they are looking for.
I am sorry this happened to you.