No dining experience is ever perfect with young kids, even with a few years under our belts. Trial and error, advice from other parents and flexibility has made it a little easier... most of the time. It seems that we do not always try to keep the kids still and quiet for OUR sakes, but so we do not ruin the meal for the rest of the restaurant patrons. This sometimes means compromising a few rules of table etiquette, but tucked away in our own little booth, hopefully we won't attract too much attention.
Here at Ketchup Kids, we want to share our "Diaper Bag of Tricks" to make your trip to your favorite restaurant as enjoyable as possible. First, our moms share their favorite tips with you:
Katie (Mom of one, age 1 year): "
Casey (Mom two, ages 4 and 2): "Each of my boys gets to pick out one small, QUIET toy that can be held with one hand to bring inside the restaurant. Most often this is a car, truck or train that they can drive on the table. I discourage toy hammers or anything that squeaks, clicks, or needs batteries."
Lindsay (Mom of four, ages 10, 5, 3, and 1): "
Here are some other tips that we learned through trial and error:
~ Do dinner early. The crowd between 4-6 pm is a lot different from the crowd between 6-9 pm. The people also eating during 4-6 pm seem to be fellow families and, of course, the "early bird special" hunters, the senior citizen crowd.
~ Try not to feed any milk or juice (filling liquids) or food before eating out. Only give a few ounces of water in a sippy cup. This way your child will sit down and eat his/her entire meal.
~ If it is past nap time or bed time, save your dining experience for a later date or time. Why set a kid up for failure?
~ Order your child's food at the same time as you order drinks and ask that their food come before your food. This way you can keep their plates out of reach until it cools, or until you are able to cut it up.
~ Ask the server to please not fill your child's cup all the way to the top. Even with a lid and a straw, little kids tend to tilt the cup to drink.
~ If you have a picky eater, ask the server if the macaroni and cheese (for example) looks like macaroni and cheese. At fancier restaurants, even kids meals come out looking "gourmet" and less kid-friendly.
~ Bring a light snack for the kids to munch on before their dinner arrives. If you have forgotten a snack, ask the server if they have any bread, crackers or chips.
~ After you sit down and order, take your child for a short walk right before eating. This is not code for "let your child run around the restaurant." Please hold your child's hand and go for a walk to the restroom, the foyer if it's large and uncrowded, patio area, or outside on the sidewalk around the restaurant. This helps get any extra energy out.
~ Bring a box or bag full of quiet and clean activities to entertain your child before and after dinner. This box can include:
- Books
- Crayons and paper
- Pipe cleaners
- Toy car/truck/train (1 per child)
- Plastic/rubber utencils
- Mini dry-erase board, writing pad, etc.
- Sticker book
- "I Spy"
- "Would You Rather"
- Who can tell the funniest joke?
- Straw Wrapper Soccer (not table manners-friendly, but loads of fun!)
- Staring contests
- Quiet as a Mouse
- Who can make the funniest face?
