Most parents tend to feel embarrassed when their children misbehave in public, but sometimes, you encounter those who pay no attention to the antics of their toddlers at restaurants and other venues.
Such was the case when one couple visited a restaurant for dinner and brought their 4-year-old son along. Like most toddlers, the little boy was not content to sit still, and he got up to play around in the restaurant. When a waitress told the child to go back to his seat, the father was having none of it.
The father decided to air his frustration in a letter to Slate’s “Care and Feeding” advice column to get its take on the incident. Without giving his real name, he began by explaining that he and his wife had decided to take their son to a mid-tier restaurant that was neither a fast-food joint nor an upscale, fine-dining eatery.
He admitted that his son was the type of toddler who finds it hard to stay in his seat for a long period of time. Because of this, he and his wife allowed his son to roam.
“My son is a normal, active little boy, and it’s hard for him to sit through a whole dinner, so we let him explore the restaurant a little,” the father wrote.
However, he said his decision did not go unnoticed by a server at the restaurant.
“I noticed our waitress giving him the hairy eyeball, so we asked him to stop running. He was pretty good about it after that, but he did get underfoot when she was carrying a tray, and she spoke to him pretty sharply to go back to our table and sit down,” he continued.
This did not go down well with dad.
