Bring the kids or not when you go out.

I recently read an article on Bon Appetit about guidelines on taking children out to eat (at nice restaurants).  A commenter suggested that children under 8 should never go to fine dining establishments.  Believe it or not, I disagree.  

Kids need to go out.  They need to experience the world through their parent’s tutelage.  We have ignorant adults throughout the United States because we have lazy parents.  Want a new nature vs. nurture argument?  Ignorant is environnemental. Stupid is genetic.

I have realized the main problem, but I want it to be clear that I have never blamed a snotty little brat for being the problem.  It’s always the parent’s fault. 

I make my dinner reservations for 7:00 PM or later.  I catch the second to last showing of a movie at a theatre.  I’m in my mid-thirties, and I go out later than those in their 50's do, and later than children want to.

Midday and early evening is family outing time.  Past 7:00 PM is family home time.  I’m not asking parents to never go out past 7:00, just get a baby sitter if you do.  Don’t force your kids to go out when they don’t want to, they’ll start preferring not to go out at all because they’ll associate it with a burdensome, tiring event rather than a fun experience.

Lets face it, if I was out for dinner at 5:00 PM, I would expect families to be out, and with that, some extra kid generated noise.  8:00 PM though, I expect to see only adults.

Leaving the theatre at around 10:00 PM a couple weeks ago after seeing Sherlock Holmes, I watched someone walking into the theatre carrying a baby.  AT 10:00 PM, WALKIN IN... CARRYING A BABY.

STOP THIS!!!  It’s wrong on so many counts I’d just get frustrated and pissed off listing them all.  You MUST know this isn’t right, good, and optimal…  FOR ANYONE!!  You, the kids, me, and all the other patrons who want to go out at later hours don’t need the bother of your tired, fussy, noisy and belligerent little kid.  They are tired or hungry... or both, and they are acting out either because of that, or because they don't respect you to the point they know they can get away with it... or both.