In praise of wild children.

[ZombieHorde]

I love wild children in restaurants; running around and playing games. Screaming like banshees. I always try to flash the parents a smile. I don't want them to feel shame for having wild children.

I love wild children in laundromats. I once had half a roll of quarters by my soap and dryer sheets; I was several machines away reading my book. A pack of young girls, maybe 12-years-old, started whispering when they saw my roll. I knew what they were up to, so I turned a little to make them feel more at ease. They stole my quarters and left, and I thought that was awesome.

I love wild children. They remind me to be silly and have fun.

[seabeyond]

1. bah hahaha. ah zombie, unique all the way.

happy noise. i am always for and never bothered by happy noise.

[ZombieHorde]

8. If children playing is annoying me, I take it as a sign of depression.

Sometimes I spend too much time on DU, or in front of my TV, and I get depressed. When I get depressed, I get grumpy, and the best cure is to go on a mountain trail, or anything else that involves getting away from my favorite, electronic distractions.

[HockeyMom]

2. My younger daughter was a wild child

Colic as a baby, which didn't quite end until she was a teenager. However, she was a very QUIET teenager. No trouble at all. Better to let them get it out of their system while they are YOUNG, rather than as TEENAGERS.

[marions ghost]

3. LOL

:popcorn: let's see if we can have yet ANOTHER thread on this tired beat-to-death topic....:silly:

Meanwhile the country and the world's in a mess, a lot of it perpetrated by wild people.

[CoffeeCat]

4. Wow, you would have been sooo happy...

...today at the grocery store with my girls, age 10 and 11.

One insisted on pushing the cart, while the other demanded to stand on the end of the cart. Both
didn't want the other doing that--so they proceeded to bicker and fight and erratically move the cart,
as to cause the other frustration. They were doing the splits in the frozen-food section, "Mom! Mom!
Look how far I can do my left-leg splits!"

They begged me for every box and bag of junk food and even threw a few things in the cart. And when
I say "threw" I mean--from several feet away. As a joke, one of them put a giant, industrial-size
glass jar of pickles in the cart when I wasn't looking. They kept snickering and muttering, "Has
she noticed yet? Well don't SPOIL it, Riley! Shut up! Wait for her to see it!"

...I saw it the entire time.

They pretended to drink a carton of egg whites--complete with "glug, glug, glug" noises.

We had a debate in the school-supply section--and I had to list several reasons why they couldn't
have the $1.99 pocket folders, and instead had to select the plain ones, "We've got 12 folders to
purchase, and $24 is much more expensive than $6. That's why."

They had to stop and smell every Glade candle and beg me to smell it too, "Oh gosh mom, this smells
like cookies! Come here! MOM...COME...HERE...COOKIES...MOM, can we GET cookies???"

Oh, I could go on, but I think I'll just take a nap.

[marions ghost]

5. Awww, how cute

but they weren't bothering other people, were they? And they weren't screaming I take it. Nobody's talking about normal everyday kid behavior. :shrug:

Cute kid stories, maybe belong in the Lounge with cute kitties?

[CoffeeCat]

9. No, they were just being goofy...

...and they didn't scream or bother anyone.

I wish I had some cute kitty stories tho!

[marions ghost]

11. Right I understand of course

(I have a lot of affinity for kids)-- but I think it's not so relevant to the topic. :boring:

I'm outta here...you all just enjoy the warm & fuzzy tales of "My Good Kids."

[ZombieHorde]

14. When establishments are banning specific human demographics,

I think we should talk about it.

[marions ghost]

16. OK

no problem with the topic. But there are rules everywhere, esp related to kids. This is not discriminatory. It's done out of consideration to the other patrons. No restaurant owner would discourage customers with kids if there were NOT a problem. I think we're talking about a "white tablecloth" restaurant (don't take that literally--you know what I mean). Yes good kids have to pay for the actions of the bad kids sometimes. Disturbing the Peace (or whatever you like to call it) should not be tolerated anywhere in public.

I saw a young couple having a fight in a public place (bookstore) the other day. Yelling and using abusive language. Disturbing the Peace. Everyone was running away from them. Bookstore owner called the cops rather than intervene herself. What's the diff? The restaurant owner can't be an enforcer or intervene in the negative parent-child situation. Maybe he should call Nanny 911? :shrug:

[uppityperson]

19. ban young couples from bookstores. You gave a story proving why this should happen.

Good job! It wouldn't be discriminatory since it would be "done out of consideration to the other patrons."

Ban young couples from bookstores!

[marions ghost]

22. Riddiculous extrapolation

:rofl:

I gave the example only as an example of another kind of disturbing the peace. To illustrate that somebody has to do something to curb it, in adults and children--or it gets out of hand. And for children we can't depend on the cops. Parents have to be the cops. (Good, fair cops)

[Warren DeMontague]

21. I'm thinking this is, maybe, another one of those East Coast phenomena.

Every time I've been on the E. Coast that whole in-your-face-all-the-time-"heymacwhaddayoodoinanwatsittooyoooanyhooo" vibe just bugs the crap out of me. Lotta people love it, I can't stand it. Like how the East Coast is the only place in the country where total strangers feel compelled to walk up to me and comment on the extremely ODD fact that I am a MAN with LONG HAIR (imagine that!) And of course, since I have LONG HAIR I must have some WEED on me. Right?

Whatever.

The problem, such as it is, is very easily solved by a sign that says "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" ~ that means Gen X'ers with obnoxious kids, cat-fightin' millennials, or grumpy ol' duffers for that matter. Problem solved. I think this establishment was looking for free pr, honestly. And, hey, it worked.

Besides, we have very large kid-free zones here on the west coast, like large chunks of California for instance, where families with kids just can't afford to live.

[marions ghost]

23. Not sure what part of the East Coast you mean

I don't doubt your experience, but I doubt you were in the South (half the East Coast). Correct me if I'm wrong. If in the South, I'd take it as they were pullin yer leg. Havin fun. So where did you have these defining experiences regarding hair?

The west coast has a certain loftiness that I've heard even west coasters complain about. One of my friends out there says she never knows what people are thinking, everything is so superficial. (Not a blanket negative--the west coast has some wonderful aspects, like the east). You seem more about the problem of "east coasters" who stereotype you, rather than kids, but I guess the connection is "free to be me." Stereotyping east coasters, maybe?

As for the sign, that would just inflame people such as you. Actually every private business has that right and people know that. Tacky to announce it like customers are stupid. However using humor--as I've seen in some places (naughty children will be fed to the crocodile) is a creative way to go.

Free PR--if the problem was bad, the restaurant may need the PR of taking care of it in the best way they can think of. Legitimate. The restaurant business is a hard & competitive game. Your fortunes can change overnight.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. "As for the sign, that would just inflame people such as you."- why would I suggest it, then?

That doesn't make any sense. I spent over a decade of my life in one retail situation or another. Believe me, I know the value of that sort of sign. If for no other reason than to have something in writing to point to when someone is being an ass.

So where did you have these defining experiences regarding hair? NY, PA. I fully admit I've never spent any time in the southeastern corner of the country, save Florida. Been tempted to check out Athens, GA, but other than that I haven't felt much urge to go. :shrug:

My midwestern mother could never figure out the west coast; couldn't grok why people seemed so uninterested in each other. Superficial? Maybe. That's how I feel about Los Angeles. I lived in Southern California once, every time I go back there I remember why I left, despite the lovely weather and the many friends I have down there.

[marions ghost]

34. OK well ...signs

I suppose you imagine it on the door like "no concealed weapons" and "no smoking." But it's a shame that people need all these posted rules everywhere. They do know the rules. I suppose they could let families with a young child in if they had a warning sign (and maybe in the menu also) that said "Unruly children will be asked to leave." Would that be a compromise you could live with? It pretty much says, if you don't want to control your kids, this isn't the place for you. But it lets the parents decide if they want to risk it.

People in the South don't give a FF about long hair and such. Visit Athens sometime and while you're at it go down to the Georgia coast--Savannah is cool. And then of course the Outer Banks of NC.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. "Unruly children will be asked to leave." - I think that's totally legitimate

hell, even put in something about their parents being asked to leave, too. I swear I've been in places with signs that say "parents, please control your children".. no biggie. If my kids are acting out and refuse to stop, I will gladly remove them from the premises, and rapidly. Christ, no one knows how annoying they can be more than ME!

I guess I just think the idea of saying "we're banning anyone with a 6 or under".. it seems like kind of a wrong-headed policy for a business to take, unless there are extraneous reasons, like it's a strip club or a hooters or something.

[Sheepshank]

10. I am raising 3 girls

3 girls I birthed in the space of 3 1/2 years. It's not normal. No one should do this to themselves and try and work FT to boot. But know this, I love my little sugar plums. With every fiber of my being.

BUT there are times. Times when I not only want to get away from the crying, but get away from the bickering, from the child conversations and questions, the child's need for constant attention, "look at me...see what I'm doing", get away from children who even when well behaved have no concepts of quiet conversation, have no sense of volume. I don't want to hear others going through this same thing when I'm attempting a serene moment of escape.

I just want to be a grown up saying grown up stuff, using grown up naughty words, without a parent scowling because I've said something their 'precious' is too young to overhear. I want to cuss out the Republicans using very indelicate words, if that is the topic of conversation. I want to tell my dh what I'd like to do with him the next time the girls are sleeping in late or going to bed early. I want to talk dirty. For just 45 minutes I want to be a desirable, free woman living a fantasy that I have less responsibility than I actually bare.

I adore restaurants that will give me this momentary escape....and will patronize them at least twice a year. On my anniversary and one other time just to be frivolous.

[marions ghost]

12. Thank you !

for reminding parents that adults need some "time outs" too.

OH jeez--I sound like the Nanny. But she does make sense.

[WinkyDink]

26. LOVE this post!

[ZombieHorde]

6. I have kids, and I understand the daily frustrations that can come from being a parent.

Your kids sound like my kids. I wish your family happy times.

[CoffeeCat]

7. Thanks...

They were having fun, and it was a great time. I have to play the part of parent, and
stop myself from doing the splits in the aisle or pretending to drink the carton of
egg whites, tho. :)

They're entertaining and they're great kids--just a little exasperating at time.

[seabeyond]

13. sometimes even moms need to just stop, and smell the candles. nt

[ohheckyeah]

20. Sounds so delightful

[-..__...]

15. Watch out for the boomerangs!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XLwUK2JqYA&feature=related

[ZombieHorde]

17. Awesome. nt

[Whisp]

18. hehe

[Le Taz Hot]

24. Tried to rec.

but it seems not everyone has an appreciation for the humor. :shrug:

[WinkyDink]

25. I was a "wild child', running through yards, eating neighbors' flowers (!), racing my bike....

I NEVER SHRIEKED IN RESTAURANTS.

That is not being a "wild child"; that is being a defiant child.

[ellie]

27. I was too

Me and my brother would run through stores and laugh and carry on. We never shrieked in restaurants though. We were the last of nine children and my mom just let us go. I think she had had enough at that point.

[DeschutesRiver]

29. Ditto for me, and agree with your conclusion. nt

[pipi_k]

28. Well one of the biggest problems with wild children

in public places is that there's a chance they'll run into something and get hurt.

Or run into someONE and hurt that person.


Wild children running around in restaurants? Really? Like waitstaff aren't walking around carrying trays of hot food or pots of hot coffee?

Or elderly/disabled people aren't trying to navigate their way to the restrooms?

In laundromats...people don't swing open one of those huge dryer doors not expecting a kid to be running full speed into it?

Some innocent person trying to do laundry one day unknowingly swings open a dryer door just as a kid comes barreling into it, then has to deal with guilt when the kid smashes into it and needs stitches or something. Or maybe the parent of the kid is a real asshole and decides to sue someone because his/her kid ran around like a wild animal.

Oh boy. What fun.

Sorry...I'm not THAT old, but I do have bad knees/feet, and I've nearly been knocked over by kids running into me when they were being wild and not paying attention to anything around them.

There are plenty of appropriate places for kids to run wild. Playgrounds. Amusement parks. Their own homes.

Not public places.

[wickerwoman]

32. +1

I remember being in a Brazillian barbecue restaurant where the waiters carry around chunks of meat on *swords* to each table and one clueless mom on her cellphone completely ignoring her two kids who were semi-deliberately trying to trip the waiters. And who would mom be the first one to blame when one of her kids got skewered or a waiter was badly hurt?

It's not just the noise... it's the involuntary sense of responsibility for someone else's kid at the next table as you watch him sticking a fork in an electrical socket while his "parents" pointedly ignore him. And then they get pissy with you if you intervene.

Also, it pisses me off when kids make more work for the waitstaff and the parents have no appreciation for it. I've seen kids at buffets just dumping food on the ground. That's not "wild", it's just f*in rude and inconsiderate.

[treestar]

31. I got to restaurants a lot

And I've never even noticed a child in a restaurant doing something that bothered me.

I don't go to just fancy restaurants.

[ZombieHorde]

39. I understand some people are jaded from an extreme experience,

but I have never seen anything too outrageous.

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. lol. Not sure if you are joking about the quarters

[ZombieHorde]

37. I am serious about the quarters. I thought it was awesome.

Completely worth the few bucks I lost.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

36. You're cracked.

[ZombieHorde]

38. No, I'm ZombieHorde. Cracked is a fun magazine, and website. nt