Dining out

Went out to lunch today - which is always something of an adventure with a toddler in tow. It always makes it so much more interesting though when you go somewhere that isn't exactly "kid friendly."

First, the hostess takes us to the table (really, one of those round booths that aren't suitable for toddlers or babies in car seats - we had both in our group), and I say to her, "I need a highchair." To which she responds, "Oh someone is bringing one."

Meanwhile, I'm standing there holding Olivia, who is squirming and irritated because she can't get down and run around. Now, why would it have been so difficult for the hostess to carry a freakin' high chair to the table? After all, she walked right past them. I guess the menus were too much for her to handle, let alone carrying a high chair too. Never mind the fact that I mananged to walk through the entire dining room carrying a 20-month old, a diaper bag and my purse. I probably could have carried the damn high chair too.

Finally, the designated high chair carrier arrives and thankfully, the high chair was in relatively OK shape. That's a huge pet peeve of mine -- high chairs that are well beyond their "use by" date. I have lost count of the number of places I've gone where the high chairs were all in various states of disrepair. Either they are missing part of the lock clip on the safety belt, or the safety belt is tied in a knot, so as to keep it at "one size fits small" presumably, or the chair only has one part of the safety belt, or all the screws are loose and the chair is ready to fall to pieces.

I admit, I get a little pissed off about the high chairs. But really, is it that much to ask to have safe and clean high chairs for my kid? And when you question the owner or manager about the state of their chairs they always look at you as if you had just asked them to end hunger worldwide. I actually had a pizzeria owner say to me that it was "really expensive" to get highchairs fixed. Gee, I wonder how expensive a personal injury lawsuit would be if a child fell out of one of those broken or damaged chairs? When I find a chair that is unsafe, I always request a different chair. I don't care if it makes me look like a crazed mom. I want my kid to be safe.

Another point of contention with me -- kids menus, or the lack thereof. My statement is this: if you don't want kids to eat at your restaurant, then put a sign on the door that say "NO KIDS." Otherwise, have a kids menu. It's that simple. You don't need to have crayons or other fun stuff (although, that's nice too), just have a menu for kids.

I guess my point is this: going out to eat with kids is hard enough - restaurants should make it easier on us by having safe seats, good kids menus and a good attitude about kids. If they can't do that, then just hang up that "NO KIDS" sign and we'll get the message.