Uh oh, when Kate wrote this blog, and she touched on this topic, all the people from Dining At Large came over here. Look out!

Anyway.

I'm not sure about the legal ramifications of barring children from a restaurant. You'd never see signs that said "no people in wheelchairs" or "we do not serve overweight people."

Mine are 6 and almost 4 and very good when we eat out. But we have worked darn hard to make it that way, and we make sure we don't go out to eat if all the stars are not aligned. (IE we don't pick a place to eat with a 45 minute wait when the kids are starving, we don't go when they are tired or not feeling well and we don't go at 10 at night.)

I guess I see both sides of the issue. Kids are not second class citizens and they won't learn proper behavior if they aren't ever given the opportunity. But I also like to eat in peace. IMO it's a very small percentage of misbehaved kids that give the rest a bad name.

The last time we ate out as a family, we were seated between a family with a toddler and a group of young men. I was far more offended by the continuous use of the F word coming from the adult table than the ocassional noise from the family table.

Years ago, a friend and her husband – not from Baltimore – made plans to eat out and took their 3 kids, ages ranging from 4-10. Rightfully, my friend had raised her children with the principle that eating out is a privilege that can only be kept with good behavior. Her children were frequently warned: if you don’t do x, y, and z, we will take you home. And they kept that promise.

Lo and behold, while dining at a steakhouse one evening, their middle child started to act out and, by the parents’ standards, was unruly and deemed to have broken the rules. The mother gave up her meal, the child had to do the same, and the mom drove the unruly child home, where the two of them ate an ordinary meal of leftovers. The father remained at the restaurant with the other two behaving children, and when they were done, they called the mother who came to get them.

I have never forgotten her telling me this story. I know every parent will have their own way of dealing with this, but I applaud parents who do not wait for restaurant management to say something before they parent their own child. No, children should not be acting up in public – it is a basic human manner that is expected by a certain age. If more parents did not expect mall cops, store managers, and restaurants to place limits on their kids and actually did the job themselves, establishments would not feel they have to resort to drastic measures. I don't think what we're seeing is an issue of businesses interfering with parenting, rather I see it as businesses feeling exasperated, trying one last resort to have a quality environment.

I think the No Screaming Kids sign is great. It takes a village, so to speak, and the sign at least puts kids on notice that others are watching their behavior and have expectations for their conduct.

It is called a FAMILY restaraunt for a reason for families. I will not stop eating out with my kids because someone does not like them when they tend to get a little loud. I didn't like it when I was in a restaraunt and the table next to me was blowing their cigarrette smoke in my face but no one asked them to leave. I could see if they were throwing a huge fit kicking and screaming then yes I would take my child outside to calm down but I would not leave the restaraunt.

I called this about 3 years ago. Here we go again! Just like the "Smoking" issue...Let's start out by giving each restaurant a "family section" then after the families deal with that issue, then the policy will simply be NO KIDS in any restaurant. What's next? Good luck to the young families of today...seems to me like you will be saving a lot of money by staying home to eat dinners with your children.

Good Luck!!

We have two young boys and we still go out. I would say the hardest period is when children are 1-3 years old. We only go to 'loud' restaurants where food is served somewhat briskly and are prepared if one of us needs to walk a child outside or take the food to go. We do carry-out much more often than dining out.

A child's behavior is a direct reflection of a parent's expectation. The "No Screaming Kids" sign is great idea...

I compare this issue to flying with children. My husband and I travelled extensively before kids, and vowed to continue travelling with our family. We want to introduce our kids to other cultures and have them experience life outside of their comfort zone. However, to do that, it usually means you have to get on an airplane and I can't tell you how many "hairy eyeballs" we get when we board the airplane with our LO.

Usually, he's very well-behaved, but sometimes (for whatever reason - late flight, long flight, etc.) he fusses. I always apologize profusely to those around us, but I honesly think some of them expect me to stay locked up in my house until my children reach ten years old!

In both a resturant setting and on an airplace, I think parents need to be congnizant of others' comfort but there's only so much you can do. I think others have to be cognizant that you are still entitled to live your life!

Loved the story about the steakhouse and that family's approach. I would be willing to bet that child acted appropriately the next time they went out to eat.