This is not the place for your kids to run laps - Rant

Sorry in advance if you have read a rant like this before, but I just have to vent.

Okay, so I had a taste for waffles this morning & because it is winter here in the upper Midwest, I will seize on any excuse to get out of the house. Dad wanted oatmeal & some bacon, so he came along too.

I have found a great mom and pop coffee place that serves fully cooked breakfast and lunch. It has high and low tables (this biggest is a four top), a couple of comfy chairs for longer stays, a bookshelf and wifi. It is a small place with narrow pathways around the tables, so you can't bring your massive stroller in. There is NO toy area and given a high chair would block a path they don't have any. They do have a few children's books on one of the shelves, but that is it. But still, this should keep the Moos & Toddlers away.

Silly, silly Rosyie, you should know by now this is not how it works. No, using Moo logic, this is perfect place to have your mid-morning coffee coffee klatch with the other Moo's with mobile toddlers. Two Moo's, one with two mobiles and the other with just one, letting their cancer cures get out of their seats to run around.

Not only could lil' precious be bowled over by someone trying to get another coffee or whatever, but coming out of the kitchen are heavy hot plates piled high with breakfast goodness. If that kid darts suddenly, that platter of food comes right down on Moo's Reason for Living's head. They also made a break for the kitchen where the food was being prepared. Frankly, I would rather not see that, nor do I want a kid injured.

Despite the stupid grins on the two Moo's faces, they finally decided they couldn't really talk to one another (one kid kept blathering loudly for no apparent reason) and keep their collective brood entertained, so they finally packed up & left. The coffee place returned to peace once more. Right after the Moo's left, another Moo came in with her toadler looking for the group that had just left. She left without ordering anything.

If this was the only coffee shop in town, I could understand the Moo's wanting to meet. But being a fairly metropolitan city, we have several places that catered to coffee klatching handlers and their miracles. Which I avoid knowing what is there and who they cater to. These places that cater to the childed have a kids menu, busted up toys to play with, a chalkboard at kid height, kid books, plenty of high chairs, big tables to sip coffee at and plenty of room for strollers/baby carriers. Please don't invade the place where adults just want to check their email, do work on their laptops, or have a meal or coffee in peace.

Thank you for reading.

I feel your pain. I once went to a restaurant with my husband, and there was a moo, grandmoo and a she brat that looked to be around four years old. The brat wouldn't sit in its chair, and started wailing and screaming for apparently no reason. The moo and grandmoo didn't care that there were others in the restaurant who were trying to enjoy their meals. This didn't stop the entire time they were there. Husband and I finally left, totally disgusted. We never went back to that place. Now it is a different restaurant with new management.

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mumofsixbirds
I feel your pain. I once went to a restaurant with my husband, and there was a moo, grandmoo and a she brat that looked to be around four years old. The brat wouldn't sit in its chair, and started wailing and screaming for apparently no reason. The moo and grandmoo didn't care that there were others in the restaurant who were trying to enjoy their meals. This didn't stop the entire time they were there. Husband and I finally left, totally disgusted. We never went back to that place. Now it is a different restaurant with new management.

And people have the nerve to claim we're rude...most people are reluctant to walk out of a restaurant even if they are having a miserable time. Perhaps if more of us followed your example, the impact of catering to bad customers would be more obvious. Instead, places just see that they get less and less business, but not why.

Although there is the opposite example, places that ban young kids and get a news article and a spike in business.

I had a similar experience just last Saturday, for my usual meet up with a 'just before closing time' coffee at a local coffee shop. Well in strolls Moo, duh and grandmoo in an oversized pram, with grand-moo swaddling a scrotum-shrieker. Yep, we all know what's going to happen with young moo and an audience. They all take it in turns to attention whore by proxy, and hyper-stimulate the crotch cricket, so it consistently lets out the most ear-piercing shrieks, that in turn, motivates the attention whores to hyperstimulate more.

It was a self-sustaining circle-jerk, resulting in a gradually increasing ear-piercing shrieking/cooing/bouncing circus. My friend had his eardrums ruptured not long ago, and even my own were literally being battered, and no amount of stink eye or loud groans was making an iota of impact, especially when moo decides to pace around the cafe with the harpy.

We moved, before my friend made scene to a place on the other side of the cafe, only to have another play 'slowly drag the multiple loud wooden chairs over the resonant tiled floor', while duh had his nose buried in the phone. This cut short our get together, as we both left furious over the inconsiderate breeder twats. Yet, us CF are considered the inconsiderate and rude ones!