I don’t hate children but there is a time & a place for children to be present. There are places where they should not be welcome and where it is not appropriate to take them.
Why do parents get offended if their offspring are not included or welcome at an event? Pre-children, these adults probably thought the same way as me. But as soon as they give birth, it all changes and suddenly their child should be entitled to go everywhere and everyone should welcome them with open arms.
Several years ago I had planned a surprise joint event for my parents for their 50th birthdays which were only a couple of months apart. The plan was for me, my sister and respective husbands, mum & dad to get a limo to a nice restaurant in the vineyards. All was good until my sister asked about if the limo had a baby seat? WTF!!! Seriously, she wanted to bring her 2-year-old with us because he’d be upset if he was left out. I pointed out to her that 1. It was not a place to take children 2. The kids got to spend Mums & Dad’s actual birthday with them whereas I did not (living interstate) and 3. We had never done a nice ‘adults only’ dinner as a family.
She was insistent to the point she called my mother to complain and totally ruined the surprise. The event did not go to plan and her holier than though attitude ruined it for everyone all because she wanted her child at a dinner that was not kid appropriate. She simply could not see why taking kids was not OK.
There are plenty of places where children are welcome in this world. If I don’t want to be around kids, then I don’t go to places where there are likely to be a bunch of them. The same applies for adult-only venues.
So why can’t we have adult-only, childfree zones without being criticised for it? Surely, we can carve out a little bit of space in this world overrun by children.
A few places where I don’t think kids are appropriate:
- Nice restaurants
- Business of first-class flights
- Airline lounges
- Most 5 star resorts (should have adults-only section away from screaming kids at a minimum)
- Anything that states ADULT ONLY
If you are having a party, event, wedding, dinner, whatever…. then you should be perfectly within your right to say ‘kids not welcome’. I don’t expect to be able to take my dogs everywhere I go and I don’t get offended when I see a ‘no dogs allowed’ sign (and my dogs are better behaved than many kids).
I am always hearing women complaining because little Johnny can go to this place or another. Is it because mummy is insecure going anywhere without her child now? Does mummy forget that she didn’t think it was OK pre-Johnny now suddenly she has changed her view because she has a child? Is there a chemical in the brain that switches on once women give birth that changes their previous views about life?
More cafes & restaurants are applying the ‘no children allowed rule’ which continues to ruffle feathers from parents who think their kids should be welcome. Why would you want to go somewhere you are not welcome? There are plenty of child-friendly places to eat so go there.
What is this sense of entitlement that parents have about their kids being able to go everywhere?
Do you have a story to share? Have you had people get upset because you said: “no kids” for your event?
Maybe they should have signs in windows “CHILD FREE NOT WELCOME!!!” in many public places where it is perfectly CHILD friendly places like cafes, restaurants, parks, buses, children are everywhere, get over it, get used to it and grow up, children are children, you’re an adult, should know better!!