Toddler drink-spiking aside, keep going to restaurants!

Two disconcerting cases where a toddler was inadvertently served alcohol in U.S. chain restaurants have emerged in the last week.

Reaction was strong on Twitter yesterday and it got me thinking: For heaven's sake, let's not shy away from taking our kids to restaurants just because this happened. Because you get tired of making dinner every night. Because the terrorists would win if we stayed cooped up inside eating leftover mac-and-cheese. And because we need to expose our children to restaurants early so they know how not to be beasts in same.

Don't get me wrong. It is completely unacceptable that two babes were boozed at Applebees and The Olive Garden. How did sangria end up in a cup with a lid? I suspect it could have something to do with factory-like chain restaurants, harried staff, and similar-looking jugs of orange juice and sangria. Who knows?

I do feel pretty sure of this, though: When you opt to take your kid to a small, neighbourhood restaurant where there's attentive service and things are a little less mechanized, you can likely be a little more confident that junior's juice is vodka free.

 
This is Cam being spoiled to death on a recent (not too) sick day

So please, keep going out. Try someplace new. Maybe even somewhere with proper tableclothes or no kids' menu. It'll be okay.

 

Comments

[Jason]

We love restaurants and a night off from cooking, but do find it challenging to spend the extra money and not able to fully enjoy the meal due the constant attention and monitoring of our two boys. Admittedly it's a bit easier with them now being four and eight, but a couple of years ago, it was too rushed and just not an enjoyable time.

Maybe Applebee's or Olive Garden next time...hmmmm...

[northTOmom]

Brandie,

I strongly believe that parents should take kids, even youngish kids, to restaurants. When our girls were younger we took them to regular (not specifically "kid-friendly") restaurants, but we tended to go a little early, around 6:00 p.m., so as not to bother serious adult diners. That said, we always made a point of discussing and enforcing proper restaurant behaviour with our daughters. We didn't allow them to disturb other diners; if they were doing that, it was a sign to us that they weren't ready to be in a restaurant.

Now that they're 11, we take them to regular restaurants, at regular dining hours. They know how to behave, and they are willing to try things off the (adult) menu that they've never eaten at home (I'm a pretty bad cook, so this is a huge benefit for us of going out to eat.) I think it's so important to socialize kids into the world of healthy eating and great food, and taking them to decent restaurants is one way to do it.