So a week or so ago we went out to dinner at a "kid friendly" restaurant. While there is something to be said for going out someplace where you can be reasonably certain your dear daughter won't be the loudest thing there (even if she's just discovered that she can scream and likes to practice it at the least convenient times) I have to wonder if we are setting the right precedent. It was a wide-open place with concrete floors and a play area with a big box of toys (mysophobes beware). They also had flat-screen TVs giving it a sort of sports bar/preschool vibe. There was a kid who grabbed a toy car from the box and ran to the opposite end of the place from his parents and tried to shoot the car across the entire length of the restaurant. Not surprisingly his aim was off or his release point was bad or something and the car caromed off a table leg and went bouncing under a chair off to the right. There was another kid who climbed into the box of toys and just sat there, making it nigh impossible for anybody else to get anything from the box. I was a waiter (a bad one) for just long enough to really want to smack parents who don't keep their kids on a short leash in restaurants (figuratively speaking -- I also want to smack parents who keep their kids on actual physical leashes but that's a different rant). I know it's "kid friendly" but I don't think that gives you the right to ignore your little darling who may be putting himself or other people in danger. When is it too soon to teach your kid that there are some places you can't just run around and make a lot of noise? Is it wrong to expect your kid to behave with a modicum of civility when in public? When did I become such a grumpy old man?
Anyway, here are a few things Yuki has been into lately:
Wearing Mom's shoes!
Getting dressed to go out -- over her pajamas! (Seriously, she will bring us shoes and hats and jackets and demand to wear them, then just parade around the house.)
Wearing baseball hats ...
with varying degrees of success!
Going splashy splashy with pal Nora!
And making hats of things that aren't hats!
Oh, also "feeding herself with utensils" which is probably monumental but it's late and I still have to clean the kitchen so ... yay, utensils! My child is a genius!
Anyway, here are a few things Yuki has been into lately:
Wearing Mom's shoes!
Getting dressed to go out -- over her pajamas! (Seriously, she will bring us shoes and hats and jackets and demand to wear them, then just parade around the house.)
Wearing baseball hats ...
with varying degrees of success!
Going splashy splashy with pal Nora!
And making hats of things that aren't hats!
Oh, also "feeding herself with utensils" which is probably monumental but it's late and I still have to clean the kitchen so ... yay, utensils! My child is a genius!
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-Philip