The restaurant has banned kids under 6. For us, it should have been age 10.
By Kelly Burgess
The news that McDain's Restaurant in Monroeville is banning kids under age 6 spread like wildfire, making the national news and talk show forums such as the RidicuList on CNN's Anderson Cooper, and sparking predictable reactions about discrimination.
Feedback seems to be pretty mixed, with some people welcoming the move and others pointing out that there are plenty of rude/obnoxious/smelly/whatever adults as well.
This has been a hot topic in our household as well as we reminisced about not being able to go to a restaurant any more upscale thanMcDonald's until our oldest son was 10 or so.
No matter what we did, what distractions we employed, what threats we used, he always became restless and disruptive in restaurants. Our other two were fine from a very early age.
The thing is, at least we recognized that going to a restaurant wouldn't work with him. It's parents who don't seem to notice their child is crawling under my table or throwing mashed potatoes who are the problem.
My husband and I have both been to McDain's a number of times. Our youngest son used to belong to a theater group out that way, and we'd drop him off at his group, go hit a few golf balls (McDain's is also a driving range) and have dinner.
The owner is right. It is an adult atmosphere and not for very young kids.
We've definitely had our share of bad dining experiences having to do with children misbehaving in restaurants, but kids can be wild anywhere.
Recently, I did a story on fireworks safety and visited our local fireworks stand. While I was walking around looking at the merchandise, two little boys were careening up and down the aisles, screaming and punching each other and bumping into the other customers. Meanwhile, their mom and dad shopped, completely oblivious to the havoc they were wreaking.
A few days before that, my husband, son and I were at a rather upscale restaurant in Ohio and the two children at the table behind us were so loud we could hardly hear each other talk. It was the parents and grandparents who were the problem.
The parents, apparently wanting to show off their children's amazing recall, had them singing the "Fifty, Nifty United States" as well as math songs and "how many days in the month" songs at the top of their lungs until we were longing for earplugs. And the check.
Their relatives thought it was cute, but it was beyond annoying to those of us who were not actually related to those children. I also would like to add here that the son who was with me is known for his amazing voice, but I certainly would not ask him to start belting out something from my favorite musical while other people were trying to eat.
Not that he would have if I had asked anyway. He's 17 now, old enough to realize that's not appropriate restaurant behavior. Also, old enough to get annoyed when the small children at the next table are so disruptively loud. So, they do grow out of it, but it's up to us parents to keep them home, or just dedicate ourselves to kid-friendly places like McDonald's until they do.
Recipe: English Muffin Pizzas
As we reminisced about some of the crazy stuff our kids did when they were little, it prompted our kids to also start talking about some of the "kid food" we used to make that we hadn't even really thought of in years.
This was one of my daughter's favorites, and she said she wished we still made them. They're so easy and versatile and can be made for a quick lunch, a quick dinner, or by the babysitter while mom and dad go to a nice restaurant. Let the kids help. They love to do so and are more apt to eat something they make themselves.
Ingredients:
- English muffins, at least one per child
- Pasta sauce or pizza sauce
- Mozzarella cheese
- Toppings of choice, such as vegetables, sliced olives, cooked meat, pepperoni, sausage, etc. If you like it, you can put it on a pizza.
Directions:
- Preheat broiler
- Split English muffins with a fork (you can toast them first, but don't need to)
- Spread each half with pasta sauce
- Top with favorite toppings
- Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese
- Broil for about 2 minutes until cheese is melted
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