Jessica
This news story completely cracks me up. Watch the full video if you have a couple of minutes. The best part is the discussion between the anchors at the end.



I'll summarize: restaurant owner is tired of unruly kids in his restaurant and made a policy that kids under 6 are not allowed. Parents are mad because they're "being discriminated against."

NEWS FLASH TO PARENTS: If your kids can't sit in a restaurant without disturbing the other patrons, they shouldn't be in the restaurant. These parents should be embarrassed, not insulted.

It is the parent's responsibility to address behavior issues in public and teach their children to respect the people around them. I can remember sitting in the lobby of a restaurant (many restaurants, actually) with my misbehaving toddler while the rest of our group enjoyed our dinner. I took responsibility for my child, made myself uncomfortable if necessary, and taught my child how dine in a restaurant.

Now, both boys are pretty good at restaurant dining—able to place their own orders politely and color or work puzzles while they wait for their food. We are still working on volume control during the meal, and try to choose loud restaurants until we get a little more self-control in that area. We take responsibility for choosing a restaurant where our children will not disturb other diners.

My favorite line in the news story: We understand that your child might be the center of your universe, but he is not the center of THE universe.

I might have t-shirts printed with that quote.
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