We vowed to continue going to our favourite brunch place even after we had kids.
How easy is this we would say as we high-fived as our first daughter slept in the pram and we scoffed our eggs Benedict smugly.
Cut to a few years (and two kids) later and the idea of delirious toddlers running in circles, scrambled eggs on the floor and frantically cutting up sausages as my coffee grows colder and well, you get the picture.
I used to judge other families with children using iPads at the table and think that I would never let my little ones be so anti-social. I would teach them how to hold conversations and sit still (and then we would all turn into magical unicorns and fly away)
On the rare social occasions we go to a fancier restaurant than Nando’s or Eddie Rockets, I come prepared with a handbag full of colours, I order for them (choice is bad) and we are in and out in record speed. It is not forever but sometimes it isn’t the other diners I am concerned about, it is the unrealistic expectations we have for our young children.
Is it really fair to put them into a situation alien to their toddler psyche?
One mum wrote about her awful experience at a restaurant in the US with her small children and it is resonating with people everywhere.
She describes to the Washington Post how the restaurant was a noisy enough, mid-range diner and she distracted her children who were reasonably well-behaved. It had been reviewed as kid-friendly.
At the end of the meal as she got the boys coats on she noticed a woman coming towards her smiling.
Immediately she says she thought the woman was coming over to say something nice about the kids.
“I thought she was going to say, “I have grandchildren your kids’ age” or “Isn’t this the best age?”
But instead, she leaned in and said, “Your children are charming to no one but you.”
Stunned, the woman was lost for words but managed to respond:
“I hope someone takes care of you when you’re old.”
And the response:
“I have a great relationship with my children. And they never behaved like this!”
At the end of the article the woman with the children doubts herself and asks the question:
“What if I’d considered her life before I spoke? And what if she’d considered mine?”
What do you think mamas? Is it fair for children to be brought to restaurants at a young age?
