You don't bring your screaming children ANYWHERE.

baconsmom · September 2010

n case you haven’t heard, a little restaurant on the Carolina shore is making waves in parenting circles all across the country. The Olde Salty restaurant in Carolina Beach, NC put a sign in its window (pictured) that reads, “Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated.” However, given the sea-faring name of the establishment, I can only assume crusty old one-legged pirates and weary, stinky fisherman are more than welcome. Last night on AC360, Anderson Cooper joked, “I’m wary of any restaurant named old-y,” but many families are taking this whole thing quite seriously. Our friend KJ Dell’Antonia at Double X says the sign:…creates an immediate atmosphere of hostility towards families, and it is, in itself, rude. No one minds a reminder with a little humor: Screaming children will be placated with a cup of coffee and a free puppy. But an angry directive demanding your courtesy reflects an aggression that goes far beyond what’s warranted. This is a sign that comes out swinging before the poster is even certain that another boxer is going to enter the ring.Exactly. Which is why I think it’s not worth being concerned about. The sign is rude – and classless – and any restaurant that is willing to hang an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper in its window with a warning printed in the back office is 1) not a place to get your panties in a bundle over, and 2) exactly the type of place families with restless kids should be eating in. I don’t condone bad behavior in public, but we all know even the most well-behaved children are sometimes more boisterous than we’d like them to be. That doesn’t mean families should be forced to stay home. Sure, there are places you don’t want to bring your screaming kids: Nobu, Le Cirque, even The Olive Garden. But Olde Salty? Honestly, I’m surprised the sign isn’t handwritten and misspelled.The owner, Brenda Armes, says, “We want to attract the type of people that come in knowing they aren’t going to have to sit behind a table with a bunch of screaming children.” Funny, I think a great way to do that would be to create a fine-dining atmosphere in your restaurant, something posting virulent signs all over the place certainly doesn’t do. (As much as I’m against breast cancer, the poster in your front window for the bachelor auction benefiting “Save the Ta-Tas” doesn’t exactly scream high-end joint.)-----------------------------------------Yes. Because poor people don't deserve to eat out, and if they do, they don't deserve to do so unmolested by your screaming children. I'm sorry, but Bacon's never been "more boisterous" than I'd like without swift and immediate consequences - and that's why, at 6, she knows how to behave in a restaurant and hasn't had to be dragged out of one since she was about 2. I'll buy their argument that the sign can be considered rude, but seriously, it shouldn't need to be said.

ReturnOfKuus · September 2010

The fact that it needs to be said means that we've become a society where parents are rude, not restaurant owners.

tawillers · September 2010

This was a discussion on the radio this morning. Mothers were calling in saying that kids are kids and they cry. I couldn't believe what they were saying and the djs were ripping them apart. It was pretty embarrassing for them.

loveshine1 · September 2010

What annoys me most is when I'm trying to eat and children are screeching and running around while their parents continue on with their meal and conversation.

ReturnOfKuus · September 2010

I went to what was probably a family restaurant - it was one of those hibachi style places - and there were these three couples with a horde of children who couldn't seem to keep their asses in their seats or their voices below a screech. The parents didn't even seem to notice, while as Mr. Kuus and I remember it, our butts would have been beaten if we'd left the table without having to go to the bathroom and being accompanied by an adult, and then we'd have gotten smacked again at home for causing our parents the embarrassment of having to spank us in public. Same goes for using the outdoor voice indoors after the first warning.

So was my mom right? Is this generation (who is now parenting young kids) deaf from Walkman headphones and blind from sitting too close to the TV, so they actually have no idea that they've brought savage beasts out to eat?

mrsconn23 · September 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_dont-bring-screaming-children-anywhere?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:74b8aaea-3fc8-49d5-b52f-f47bcf5e4514Post:8b4a07ff-87bd-4a7e-894b-5b54836084c6">Re: You don't bring your *screaming* children ANYWHERE.</a>:
[QUOTE]What annoys me most is when I'm trying to eat and children are screeching and running around while their parents continue on with their meal and conversation.
Posted by loveshine1[/QUOTE]

I will openly glare at parents who allow this. I also hate the parents that let their kids stand up in a booth and look over at my table.

zsazsa-stl · September 2010

I can't ever recall having a meal ruined by someone's screaming kid. However I have been greatly disturbed by adults screaming profanities and laughing at a volume that would wake the dead. My guess is that there was one or two repeat offender families that brought on the sign.

Also...speaking of signs in businesses, I see openly hostile signs all the time. Yesterday I was in an antique mall and at every turn I saw signs reading, "Smile for the camera!!" I felt like I was being accused of shoplifting over and over again. There are a couple of restaurants in my town that keep a wall of shame by the register with photos of people who have skipped out on the bill. Tray klassy.

loveshine1 · September 2010

I have never seen a parent properly discipline their children in public, despite how badly the child was behaving.

And as Kuus said, my ass would have gotten quite the smack if it lifted more than an inch out of my chair during a meal.

hmonkey · September 2010

if you spank your child in public, someone is going to call cps.

NOLABridesmaid · September 2010

I agree Zilla.

This happened at church Sunday. This kid was making all kinds on noise, and mom was just rocking her. Lady, that ain't working. Get up. My pastor stopped what he was saying, and asked her to take the kid outside. Loved it.

baconsmom · September 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_dont-bring-screaming-children-anywhere?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:74b8aaea-3fc8-49d5-b52f-f47bcf5e4514Post:24334e97-299d-4990-bd7a-df82173977fe">Re: You don't bring your *screaming* children ANYWHERE.</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: You don't bring your *screaming* children ANYWHERE. : I will openly glare at parents who allow this. I also hate the parents that let their kids stand up in a booth and look over at my table.
Posted by mrs.conn23[/QUOTE]

<div>I tell those kids to sit down, in my best "I'm a mom and you'd better obey me" voice. </div><div>
</div><div>Bacon's gotten to the age where she's all "Why are those kids screaming? They need to be quiet!" Said in a quiet voice, of course, and I get to bask in my superiority. ;)</div>

fishgirl77 · September 2010

I think I've eaten at this restaurant and, if I'm right, it's definately not a place frequented by fishermen. I'd say it was similar in formality to a Chili's or something like that.

I think that the love-hate relationship that year-round residents of summer vacation spot have towards tourists is also at play here. The vacationers bring in money, but they tend to be generally ruder than the year-round residents. It's like they took a vacation from every aspect of their lives, including manners.

hmonkey · September 2010

yes. i've never dealt with cps, so what goes on in a visit?

i do recall reading a story where cps was called to the house due to a mad neighbor, and mom was totally embarrassed because the kids were playing dressup and looked like hobos. but the house was "house with kids and pets" clean, the kids had access to their beds, clothes and food, water was running, etc. so, no big deal.

but that's just anecdotal.

NOLABridesmaid · September 2010

CPS does regard spanking on the butt as discipline.

loveshine1 · September 2010

I'm also wondering how the CPS would figure into one of these situations.

I hope never to have to, but if one of my children acts like a fool in public and repeated attempts to verbally discipline him or her haven't worked, I am not opposed to a little smack on the bottom.

Now if CPS WAS called by some obviously concerned citizen who feels that I am abusing my children, what could they really do? Visit my house? Arrest me for smacking my kid on the ass?

NOLABridesmaid · September 2010

Am I the person that cheers on the inside when an out of control kid gets a swat on the behind. Yes. Plus, you can tell the difference from a swat and a beating.

rpotd: I'm usually surprised when I see a white person doing the swatting.

**O-Face** · September 2010

I always find it amazing that children are disciplined OUTSIDE the home and then the parent is all butt-hurt about it. Ready to go whip some other person's behind because they DARE put their child in their place.

I say a little smack on the behind never hurt anyone.

NOLABridesmaid · September 2010

H, cps usually factors in the age of the child, where they were hit(head, chest) and the condition of the home and parents. They will interview the parents, and kid and determine the next course of action. Sometimes they will make them attend parent classes, drop the case or in extreme cases remove the kid from the home.

LnR70707 · September 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_dont-bring-screaming-children-anywhere?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:74b8aaea-3fc8-49d5-b52f-f47bcf5e4514Post:9a6a0569-400c-4e5b-bd85-a08a0de06a16">Re: You don't bring your *screaming* children ANYWHERE.</a>:
[QUOTE]i admit that i side-eye a smack on the asss when i can't see that the kid did anything so terrible<strong> (like spinning on the poll next to his mom).</strong> i'll post a story in a new thread.
Posted by Wifezzilla[/QUOTE]

<img style="width:228px;height:355px;" src="http://chrisgaldi.com/wp-content/gallery/parenting-fail/epic-fail-epic-parenting-fail-mom-baby-stripper.jpg" alt="" width="290" height="493" />

NOLABridesmaid · September 2010

I'm more concerned that they make those pink fishnets in her size.

GBCK · September 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_dont-bring-screaming-children-anywhere?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:74b8aaea-3fc8-49d5-b52f-f47bcf5e4514Post:8b4a07ff-87bd-4a7e-894b-5b54836084c6">Re: You don't bring your *screaming* children ANYWHERE.</a>:
[QUOTE]What annoys me most is when I'm trying to eat and children are screeching and running around while their parents continue on with their meal and conversation.
Posted by loveshine1[/QUOTE]

This.
I mean, when a kid has a moment/day/whatever and parent is tring to handle it? I'm pretty tolerant.
It's when the parents are all "oh, it's normal' where I'm stuck on the "sure, it's normal, it still sucks" side of things.

hmonkey · September 2010

i think those are knee highs in adult sizes. at least i hope they are.

NOLABridesmaid · September 2010

They make fishnet knee highs? Please say that they don't.

You don't bring your screaming children ANYWHERE.

Re: You don't bring your screaming children ANYWHERE.

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