So I was at a restaurant the other day, trying to enjoy my meal, when a couple that was sitting next to me, had a 2 year old that would not stop crying. Of course they did nothing to quiet their kid, and I had to sit through this for about 10 minutes before i finally got up and left. They were getting a lot of dirty looks from people; but nobody did or said anything.

So what do you do in a situation like this? Punch the Dad in the face? Ask the waitress to throw their asses out? Throw a fit of your own and see how they like it?

It can be really annoying for everyone but once I change my Depends everybody is happy.

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You say they did nothing? Maybe they did try tactics that have worked in the past, like a certain word, or a certain look but this time it didn't work.

As a parent of a child that used to behave that way, they probably felt WORSE and MORE embarrassed then the anger you felt.

It is no fun at all to be that table with the screaming child.


But to answer, depends on if they have ordered yet, or were eating.I would have asked the waitress/manager to see if they could be moved, or something.

It isn't right for the entire place to have to deal with it..

But then again I thought McDonald's allowed kids to yell and scream

I wouldn't eat at McDonalds if it was the last restaurant on Earth. I don't eat fast food period.

As the father of twin two-year-olds who is complimented everywhere he goes on how well behaved his children are (for good reason: I train them like puppies), I would suggest you do one of two things: a) Politely bring it up with the host(ess), who will then probably bring it up with the manager, who with then politely request that the parents take the child out to the car until it calms down. b) You could bring it up with the parents themselves and suggest they remove the child from the situation for a few minutes. Honestly, I think option a) is preferable, since the restaurant isn't your property and the parents are less likely to tell the manager to fuck off.

I totally understand your frustration. I have zero respect for parents who are unable or unwilling to control their children in public. Anyone who can train a puppy to obey has no excuse for having unruly children.

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Mentaly challenged kids?

Even if the child has cognitive challenges, there's no excuse for not removing the child from the situation, in my opinion. It's a simple application of the Golden Rule: people go to a restaurant to have a good time.

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Same way when I was a kid. I knew not to act up in public. My dad must have brought the hammer down at a young age, because as far back as I can remember(4 yrs old or so) I just knew not to act up. It just wasn't an option. LOL He's a former Staff Sgt in the Army and he was definitely a disciplinarian. You can now understand why I get so frustrated with this penalty ridden, mistake prone, cluster-fuck of a team this year.

If my dad were the coach, mental errors and pre snap penalties would....well like I said before, they would not be an option. :thumbleft:

I have one of these stories that comes with a happy ending. I took my extended family to a rather upscale restaurant for Christmas Eve. Dinner.
I think there was over 20 people in our "party". A gentleman and his wife were apparently doing essentially the same thing at the tables next to us, and him and I were "back-to-back" seating arrangement-wise.

In their party, there were a couple of kids acting up rather badly, and I seem to recall several trips were made by the mom wih child/children in tow to try and "quell the riot". While the kids were a bit on the irritating side, it was certainly no big deal, and these were obviously "good parents", in that they were doing everything in their power to calm their kids. I remember the "host" of the party leaning back and quietly apologizing to me for any disturbance these kids might be causing.

That in and of itself has a calming effect in the irritation department, if you know what I mean...you feel compassion instead of anger.

Our server showed up with a round of adult beverages, courtesy of the gentleman at the next table. This also served to help quiet any residual animosity felt by members of my family, and again the gentleman quietly apologized to me, and I insisted that it really was no big deal, but thank you very much for the drinks and concern. The other family left shortly after that.

Over an hour and several drinks later, we got up to leave, and I asked for the check. The server said there was no check, and that the gentleman that had been sitting next to you picked up your tab, and just wanted to say he was sorry for disturbing you. That check was easily over a thousand bucks.

Wow!