restaurant owner yells at toddler

[turtletyme]

The parents' inaction really rubs me the wrong way. The owner took it to the edge, but I am on her side. This new wave of parents who don't actually parent are the absolute worst.

[shahoi]

I absolutely would never let my child scream and cry like that in a public setting and not take action, whether that be go outside until the child calms down, or asking for a check and leaving. You have to have some courtesy. According to this story, they all just sat there and ignored the child. I already panic and quickly remove myself when O has a meltdown in public. However, the restaurant owner went a little overboard too. And I don't understand what the big deal is about 3 full size pancakes! Why was that so wrong? WHY!? Are they like ginormous or something? LOL

[musicfrk2002]

Agreed. Granted I haven't been in a similar situation, but 40 minutes of screaming or crying? Back when I was that age, I would've gotten my butt whipped and certainly dragged out of there without any pancakes

[mrskblack11]

I read the parents side of the story. Apparently they were visiting from out of town and it was raining outside. They waited to a long time to be seated then waiting a long time for their pancakes to arrive. They chose not to take their child outside in the rain which I can understand, but they could have taken their food to-go if their child was truly causing a scene.

The owners behavior is inappropriate. She should have simply and kindly told the parents that's their child was disturbing the rest of the diner. If the parents continued to let their child scream and cause a scene then she could have kindly asked them to leave. Screaming at the child does no good. If anything she needed to scream at the parents if they were truly ignoring their child.

[Widget123]

The restaurant owner must not know or remember what its like to have a toddler, IMO. It can be hard, really hard. And sometimes its better to try to ride the tantrum out so to speak than give the child the attention he/she is seeking, which might make it worse. Show a little compassion for the parents. 40 minutes is a little excessive though.

[dmoney]

I feel bad when I am at the food store and my DD starts to get fussy. I apologize to everyone around me. 40 minutes in a restaurant is to much. 10 minutes maybe...but 40?? No that's way to long.

The restaurant owner wasn't in the right either. He shold of said something to the parents and never of yelled at the child like that.

[wink568]

It's parents that let their kids behave like this that make all parents look bad and create this whole "children shouldn't be allowed" attitude in many public places. It irks me because most reasonable parents world take their child elsewhere if they're being disruptive.

That being said, based on the tone of the owner's social media posts, she seems to be extremely unprofessional. IMO, everyone involved (except the poor child stuck in the middle) were jerks.

[Widget123]

Jul 22, 2015 18:55:29 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

Jul 22, 2015 18:45:56 GMT -5 Widget123 said:

The restaurant owner must not know or remember what its like to have a toddler, IMO. It can be hard, really hard. And sometimes its better to try to ride the tantrum out so to speak than give the child the attention he/she is seeking, which might make it worse. Show a little compassion for the parents. 40 minutes is a little excessive though.

A restaurant is really not the appropriate place to "ride out" a tantrum. Children need to learn that they need to behave a certain way in public and if they don't then they will be removed from the situation and not get to enjoy dining out. 

Given the circumstances described by mrskblack11 I believe the parents deserve a little slack.  Just not 40 minutes worth.

[shahoi]

A little rain is not going to keep me from removing my screaming child from a restaurant and disturbing everyone that is trying to enjoy their meal. I would be mortified and out of there as soon as I could be.

[tiffbot]

I'm team the parents should have attempted more and probably removed him from the situation somehow, and the owner should have talked to them. This situation seems like it got out of hand and embarrassing for everyone involved.