Eating out with very young children

[Cocoa07]

We have taken our daughter to PP from being 6 months old (14 now) and we do tend to eat late but she has always been fine - whether we have eaten at the Clivia, C'an Ferrar, Llenaire's, etc..
We have tried to teach her to have manners - she was/is a child and if it became obvious to us that she was bored then one of us would go for a walk with her. Or we would talk to her and include her - it is everyone's holiday after all.
As there used to be 8 in our party there was always someone on hand but also, we used to put together an 'activity bag' before we went on holiday. Buy a lovely bag and fill it with lots of things - reading books, activity/puzzle/colouring books, pens, etc. We would give her some of it on the plane (hence kept her amused on the flight) and then add little bits throughout the holiday. The bag came everywhere and she always had something to do which meant that she was happy, we were happy and relaxed and so were other diners.
I hate the sound of a child running around unsupervised - yes it can be dangerous and also annoying for other diners, but I think that someone else said it earlier - this is generally down to parents not teaching their children the right way to behave.
The only restaurant that I ever felt uncomfortable in with my daughter when she was very young was the C'an Costa in Pollenca. The restaurant was beautiful, food lovely but it really didn't feel right and my husband and I were on edge. There was far too much stunning glassware for a child to be near!
Otherwise we have always been welcomed - behave as you would like others too and I don't think that you can go far wrong.

 

[Sparky]

Exactly Cocoa, "behave as you would like others to ", you have it in a nutshell. Thank you

 

[favie]

The only restaurant that I ever felt uncomfortable in with my daughter when she was very young was the C'an Costa in Pollenca. The restaurant was beautiful, food lovely but it really didn't feel right and my husband and I were on edge. There was far too much stunning glassware for a child to be near!
Otherwise we have always been welcomed - behave as you would like others too and I don't think that you can go far wrong.

Lovely post Cocoa....and that activity bag is a must!

This is what Debz and others were saying earlier, there are some restaurants that are just too ostentatious for little children and there are so many beautiful restaurants where parents can feel much more relaxed without being on edge!! Nothing worse than paying higher prices and having to take baby for a walk to quiet her/him down!!The times when we have ventured into these types of restaurants I have NEVER seen little children/babies, Spanish or otherwise!So we are not alone in our opinion. BTW I love children too!!

 

[Portofan]

That’s nearly a week now since I passed a remark on the “Latitude” topic.

“Buggies beside the tables drive me loopy.”

And so they do!

But only beside the tables on indoor restaurants.

Why?

They are dangerous. I don’t have a problem in general, with very young children in restaurants, PP is a family resort after all. As soon as the buggy goes in to the restaurant in most cases the waiting staff will offer a high chair/baby seat and if the child is old enough/ big enough can sit on an adult chair.

Some years ago in PP near to us in an indoor restaurant was a couple with two young children and I can’t remember either a double buggy or two individual ones. The restaurant was heaving and yes you got it, the waiter bringing our tureen of piping hot soup had to dance round the buggies and tipped the tureen over our table, thankfully not us, it would have been a scald job.

Did I say in my “Latitude” post that I did not like or did not approve of very young children in restaurants? No!

Nothing is better than to see families enjoying their eating out in a family resort like PP.

A great example is the Spanish families in somewhere like Ikebana on a Sunday.

Have to say I was absolutely astonished by the tone of the originator’s posts, more than that I will not say.

We are all entitled to our opinions, as has been well demonstrated by various people in the last week.

PP is a family resort, for all ages to enjoy their hard earned holidays, and specially after a certain cut off time in the evening ,say 8.30 pm, that those who wish a child free environment or at least an environment where parents will look after and control their children, is not too much to ask for.

We have had a wide variety of views in the last week, some poles apart but that is what the Forum is for.

What has been so enjoyable over the five years I have been a member is that we just don’t do ageism, racism, sexism, politics or religion and I am sad to see that ageism has raised it’s head today. That is not acceptable and there should be no repeat.

We don’t all agree one with another, but there has been a notable disrespect for others’ viewpoints.

 

[Belladonna]

Although I agree that some people have disrespected others points of view, there have also been some fairly put strong opinions and some of those opinions have been taken the wrong way - or not read properly in the first place - and so caused a repeat of those points again and again.
To repeat them does not change peoples minds, or even give some cause for a rethink.
Its clear that we all need different things from a holiday and as long as that destination is able to give them all, then we should all be happy!
There, Ive repeated myself, but I cant see a problem with us all accepting that different restaurants should be geared to different tastes.

 

[snowy2007]

OK...let's keep this civilised, guys...

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but let's not resort to having a slanging match...

Thanks
Jane

Come on Jane Hardly a slaging match, more friendly banter. Civilised I think we all are don't you.

 

[JH02JLH]

Come on Jane Hardly a slaging match, more friendly banter. Civilised I think we all are don't you.

Hmmm...I was just trying to nip it in the bud...

We went to PP when my son was three and there was NO WAY I would have taken him into Ca'n Costa then. It would have been a disaster and a total waste of money. In fact, if I remember rightly, my parents came over to PP for a few days and babysat while we had an evening meal at Ca'n Costa. It was bliss to be child-free for a few hours.

I'm having trouble remembering where we ate that holiday...perhaps because with two children aged 3 and 7 it was not the gastronomic experience we've enjoyed in latter years. Plus I hadn't discovered the PP forum then so we weren't aware of the square in PP (can you believe that?) I can remember restaurant Llenaire on two occasions and L'Alba in CSV, but other than that, it's a blank, although my mum told me tonight she thinks we went to La Font del Gall and we sat outside.

I remember barbecuing a lot that holiday though!!!

 

[Sparky]

Not the children i hope Jane!!!!

 

[jiggggy]

I cant believe people are complaining about youngsters in restaurants! When we went to PP in 2005, we had my 2 year old neice with us, and i must say the Spanish waiters spoilt her rotten, giving her plenty of attention, and she loved every minute of it. We even took her to Stay, in a buggy!!!
The Spanish love taking their little ones to all kinds of eateries, with no problems at all, it is a family resort after all, thats why we go there. But when we English do it, we complain!! I think we could learn a lesson from our Spanish friends here.

 

[favie]

As a Scottish Parent/Grandparent I don't need to learn anything from the Spanish ...have been taking children to restaurants and now grandchild without any problems thank you very much! If you read the posts most people were saying that sometimes/some places it is nice to have an "adult night out" don't think many parents/grandparents would disagree with that!
There is nothing nicer than seeing families all enjoying a meal together be it Spain or Britain..or anywhere! After a certain time in the evening,as I have said before,I never do see the little darlings in some restaurants.(PP)

This thread is becoming rather repetative now.....don't you think? Lets all just agree to disagree

 

[Belladonna]

Just what I have been saying favies, along with some others - well done!

 

[sws97sdg]

But isn't this a discussion forum, aren't we supposed to disagree and argue the relative merits of each view?

 

[favie]

.....what, until the cows come home!?

 

[sws97sdg]

...no usually until Zelda stops us, until then we can carry on?

 

[pollensa]

...no usually until Zelda stops us, until then we can carry on?

I, & Jane, will only moderate when posts break the rules of the forum i.e. goes way way off topic, starts becoming personal etc. As Jane pointed out sometimes we have to step in early as we can see the way a thread is going & we want to stop what could be a good thread before it deteriorates into a slanging match

Personally, I think this thread has now run its course and all the main points have been covered.... I'm sure there are other subjects that you could talk about now