Modern American parents have a horrible attitude that their kid can do anything they want in public, such as in restaurants and theatres, “just because they’re only a kid”.
They let them go BANG,BANG,BANG! on a plate or table with as spoon, kick racks under the table, cry, scream and yell, because “He’s only a kid”.
First, they should not even bring the kid to a restaurant, at all, and if they do, they are obligated to shut the kid up and make him behave.
Adults control their kid, or should do so,so as to not annoy other diners in the establishment who after all, came to eat in peace and quiet.
I was raised part of the time in Euope, and there, kids obey parents and are not
allowed to annoy other people.
Methods – if the parents will not follow your request to stop the kid, then tell the waiter there will be a higher tip of he can stop the kid. (If he does not, give no tip).
Tell the owner you will not return if the kid is not stopped.
Or, pull out muting earphones you may have with you in a bag. Works VERY well on airliners where then parent refuses to “take the kid outside”. (Also works well on blocking cell-phone users.)
Before I discovered the muffs used by jet engine mechanics, I once passed a note to a father asking him to silence his kid. As he disembarked, he raged at me, saying he had a right to inflict his child on the rest of us in steerage, and said “What am I supposed to do?” I answered – TAKE THE BUS ! (or ocean liner, as the case may be.)
To all, be bold, be firm, be polite, and demand the parent stop his noisy child.
What they do is NOT ok.
Blogger extraordinaire, Jon-Erik Beckjord,MBA- UC Berkeley