Growing up, we often ate at restaurants. It wasn’t because we were super wealthy - we weren’t. But my parents enjoyed dining out and didn’t believe in babysitters. That meant either they didn’t go out for dinner, or they took us along.
My mother’s strategies for dining out with the whole family revolved around protecting everyone’s right to enjoy a pleasant meal together without disturbing anyone else at the restaurant. We were all drilled about table manners at home - you know, the basics - no elbows on the table, how to hold (and use) a knife and fork, not speaking with our mouths full of food. We chewed with our mouths closed and asked politely for someone to pass the salt rather than reaching across the table and helping ourselves. There were drills about appropriate pleases and thank yous and we didn’t get up and walk away when we were done - we waited until everyone at the table was finished before asking, “May I please be excused?”
We looked scarily like the kids in this photo when we sat down for dinner. We sat up straight, kept our elbows off the table, and our hands where they could be seen at all times… Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash
If all of that sounds like something out of a Dickens novel, for us it was second nature and we didn’t really think anything much of it unless someone else pointed out our good manners. Those basic ground rules were firmly established before any of us were allowed to eat in public.
When two younger siblings joined my brother and me (there was a ten-year gap between the oldest and youngest kid), they made full use of highchairs and booster seats when they joined the family on restaurant outings. The special seating kept them contained and at eye level with the rest of us. When one of the youngest began to get fidgety, one of the older kids was assigned to take the younger outside for a walk while everyone else finished up.
Paper and pencils were entertainment kit essentials whenever we ate out as a family.
Entertainment Kits to the Rescue
This rarely happened, as it turned out, because my mother didn’t expect us to sit quietly listening to the grownups talking about mundane adulty stuff. We didn’t arrive at restaurants empty-handed. Each of us brought what we called ‘an entertainment kit.’ We all had our preferences - I often brought a book, my brother loved comics, and we all liked to draw. We packed along a selection of drawing paper, coloured pencils, crayons, and felt pens as well as puzzle books - search and finds, mazes, and dot-to-dots were favourites. Colouring books were popular and we always took full advantage of whatever the restaurants had for us - paper placemats and crayons were well-used at our table!
New Generation, New Entertainment Tools
When my youngest brother’s kids came along years later, the colouring books and pencils were largely replaced by iPads and phones - but the strategies remained the same. The next generation of kids in our now extended family are rarely left out of the dining out experience. They know how to entertain themselves while the adults are chatting and everyone - from youngest to oldest feels part of the eating out experience. Nobody feels dragged along (or left out), and the adults don’t feel rushed through their meals and conversations.
Most restaurants these days have kids menus, but if you have a youngster with a smallish appetite, it’s also easy enough to ask for a side plate and take a little from the adult portions to create a small, custom meal.
Is there a time and place for an adults-only meal out? Of course. But with a little planning and forethought (those entertainment kits were fabulous!), eating out with the kids doesn’t have to be an ordeal. Au contraire. Those family meals we shared in restaurants became our equivalent of the traditional Sunday dinner. They were a time spent together in one place, catching up on each other’s lives, and maintaining the close bonds of family over a good meal.
Share Your Family Dining Tips
Do you have some good tips to help make sure the dining out with kids experience is a pleasant one? Share your thoughts in the comments below - that’s one easy way to earn menu hunter points and be eligible for some fun foodie prizes!
Looking for family-friendly restaurants in Canmore? Have a browse through our online menus right here on the TasteMagazine.ca website (just click the orange ‘EXPLORE’ button on the homepage).
