I’ll preface this by saying that I realize in some cultures it is perfectly normal to take kids into a tavern. Heck, in THIS culture it is, as long they are supervised and not absorbing a culture of drinking. If you go to a restaurant with a tavern, absolutely grab a table in the tavern for your family so the parents can watch a little bit of the ball game while the family grabs lunch – no problem.
This post is inspired by those parents or guardians who think it is cute to have their kid sit at a bar stool in a bar as if they were one of the drinkers. This drives me batty on a number of levels:
1) Is that really the message you want your kid to learn, that bellying up to the bar at noon (or whenever) is “cool” or something to aspire to?
2) Taking up a bar stool at night (no bar ever has enough spots at the bar for those of age that are there to hang out. Your kid taking up one of the spots is not appreciated. Ever.
3) Having to censor conversations because of YOUR lax parenting style. If you are going to let your kid belly up to the bar, that is your parenting choice, and not the patrons. Don’t tell them to “stop cussing” or “don’t tell that story in front of my kid” – you invaded their adult space, not the other way around. And I mean, really – are you really one to dictate behavior at this point, after plopping your offspring on a bar stool to watch mommy or daddy get soused?
4) The parents who allow their kid to not only sit there but to spread out and do home work while they drink it up with their friends and ignore the kid, or even worse try to get the patrons to help with said home work so they don’t have to? You’re a special kind of bad parent.
5) Putting the screaming baby on the bar space in front of a bar stool or on a bar stool so you can “watch” it while you drink. Do I really have to address this one out loud?
6) After you get your odious offspring their bar stool, you start calling them stupid for various imagined instances of “talking back” while you drink. Unacceptable. How do you expect them to behave with that kind of example?
Am I only seeing this because of the very small town I live in? no. I see this in a lot of places, though it is far less often in a city, I’ll give you that. Have I missed any examples? What do y’all do in this situation? Say something? Ignore it? A third option I’ve yet to come up with?
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