[Argie's Wife]

I don't disagree with the restaurant having the rule that they do - that's their business.

It's sad that some parents don't train up their kids to know how to have good manners or consideration for others. The parents who bring their ill-behaved children into nice restaurants show that they themselves have little consideration for the other patrons in the restaurant by their action. If people had more common sense, rules like that wouldn't be necessary.

When Argie and I want a nice time out, we do it sans kids. It's rare that we go out, just the two of us, but that's how things are for now, while our kids are little. (The Argelets are now 10 and 6 years old.) When we're out for a nice dinner, we don't want to sit next to whiney kids.

When we go out as a family, we're careful to pick a family-oriented place. The kids are happier and we're happier because it's more relaxed, but also don't have two sets of rules or expectations - one for home and one for when we're "out" - we expect our boys to behave, say please and thank you, and to not eat like little animals. Our youngest boy is developmentally delayed, so teaching him how to behave socially is a little more challenging, but he's doing a great job - he just takes more reminding/patience than the oldest boy. We also have learned when to stay home because the kids are tired or not ready to behave - but that was a learning curve for us, too. We weren't born knowing how to parent but we've learned what works or doesn't work for our kids.

I'm sure there's been times in the past when people were glad we left a restaurant (and a couple of times when I've removed a screaming kid before we were done simply because there was no "saving" our situation - leaving was the best option for everyone!)

Social growth aside, I won't raise my kids to be rude or obnoxious adults. It's work on both our part and their part - but the payoff is when someone comes by our table and comments on how well behaved our boys are - that's when I'm a proud mamma!

As the kids get older, I expect we'll move up from Friendly's, diners (the Maine Diner is a fav), to nicer places. We recently tried Jade Garden in Tilton with much success.