A major break-through in parenting! From a childless man.

So, the wife and a couple friends went to the new joint down the block for dinner. They have barbeque they smoke off-site, a nice draft beer list, and kegs of bourbon. So far so good. Everything is served in mason jars, and everyone sits where they can find room at long oak tables. A little hipstery, but then I have a hipster tendency or two. They need to get the line situation under control and the restrooms arent the best, but I'm sure they will in time. Some of the sauces better than others, and they run out of food quickly... needs a little work but a solid effort. Creamy approves.

What surprised me a bit was the number of folks who brought their infants and put them in those little attach it to a table baby seats. This was at about 8pm.

What really surprised me was that in a bustling, loud beer garden/rib joint you didnt hear a single baby crying. The little guy across from me on the other side of the table had this kind of bemused "where in the bloody HELL am I??" look on his little face the whole time. When I went to the restroom I passed by another infant, this time a girl (helpfully labelled with a bib that said "daddy's girl", sucking her pacifier with a confused wrinkled brow.

Lesson learned. When I have a kid and it starts fussing, I am going to bring it to The Strand, where he or she will be over stimulated in the auditory sense whilst orafactorily they will be bombarded with wing sauce, good bourbon, great beer, and mediocre kidney beans. Brilliant! :fro:

 

I know the smell of a good smokehouse calms me down, so yeah I guess it would work for a wee bairn. Or maybe the lack of fresh air was actually smothering the child....

 

Works for bees, too.

You know, after hundreds of these threads, I think Creamy may FINALLY be onto something.

Either that or hipster kids are just calm by nature. They're genetically/morally/socially superior to all others and they know this at birth, so they're too busy judging all the wannabe hipsters at places like this.

 

A cloroform soaked teddy bear works good too

 

I hate going to a nicer restaurant with a bunch of screaming germ carrying kids in them. If I ran a restaurant there would be a people with kids section just like the smokers aquarium at the airports.

 

Good bourbon applied orafactorily to an infant/child has indentical results in the proper amounts.

 

For what? Getting dates?

(I kid, I kid!)

 

Do the hipster babies wear skinny jeans and ironic t-shirts?

 

How old do they have to be before you can give them ribs and bourbon? I offered the baby across from me some but the parents gave me a really nasty look. I was just being nice.

I will admit, though, that offering a baby some babybacks seems to be in poor taste...

 

Creamy, have you ever been to Fette Sau in Williamsburg? I thought that's where you were talking about. They sound exactly the same but I think Fette Sau smokes onsite. I'll have to try this new place.

 

I havent actually! This place is in Astoria, walking distance from my apartment. Let me know if you go there, I'll do all in my power to make sure I am there at the same time.

 

Take the same kid back two or three times and they will adjust.
When they get comfortable there, the needy kids will still demand the attention of everyone in the room.
Carpet dwellers are adaptable.

 

How old were these kids? I had no problem taking my son to restaurants until he turned 2 and we often go to places you mentioned. Up until then, he didn't mind the noise or anything that went on around him. When he turned 2 earlier this year, he got fussy and he couldn't sit still for more than 2 minutes. Now, we only go to restaurants after the rush has died down.

 

I doubt they were a year old, but I am honestly terrible at telling the ages of kids.

 

I got bourbon or rum when I was cutting teeth. It's never too early to start

 

Those are so 2010, it's all about the tweed jackets and scarves this year

 

Holy crap it works!

We took SessionableGoodness to the Strand twice now, and both times he just plays with his rattles and looks around. Its brilliant!

 

Why wouldn't it? Ours (now 5 1/2) does with us everywhere and is very well behaved.

 

I have a 6.5 month old little girl and she's always well behaved when we take her out places. Over-stimulation can cause fussiness but usually it's all good. They just like looking around and soaking in all the new sights, sounds and smells.

 

Oh.. and the first solid meat our daughter had was barbeque - long before she had teeth.

 

6.5 months... lol.

Call me when she's a year and a half, we are done eating out for the time being.

Seriously, it gets much, much worse. Bipedal mobility is a bitch.

 

Yea, they're easier when they can't go anywhere. I'm just looking forward to more sleep.

 

Really? More sleep?

 

yup. as opposed to less sleep when they're small. It's a trade off. When they're small they're a bit easier to care for when they're awake because they can sit and play. You don't have to baby proof your house just yet and you don't have to chase after them. Whereas when they're mobile they're older, which means they're more likely to sleep through the night, but they're not as easy to watch when they're awake.
Both have their pros and cons but both are rewarding. I'm just tired from not getting any sleep this week and dealing with a sick household. So sleep is a top priority atm. Can't have a good immune system if you don't sleep...

 

I use to think that. Sometimes it works out that way. My daughter is a pretty good sleeper but there are still the times she wakes with bad dreams, and when they can start to crawl out of the crip...

 

I love all-encompassing statements from parents, especially when they're as encouraging as this.

I'd say it really depends on the kid. Ours is almost two, and it just keeps getting more and more fun. Not saying it isn't difficult at times, but even when she started walking, it didn't make life more difficult. We adjusted. Going out to eat isn't an issue at all for us.

I don't mean this as an attack on you, Psylocide. My wife and I have just been crusading against the "Just wait..." crowd. I can't tell you how often we get that phrase when we're talking about how much we enjoy our kid. I guess misery loves company. The saddest part is when they say it right in front of their kids, and the vast majority of the time, I know the parents wouldn't trade their kids for anything in the world. For some reason, it's just become the typical response in our society, and I don't understand it.

 

I was being a little facetious, but I wish you well in your "crusade."

Sometimes we just need to talk **** about our kids because it's a coping mechanism.

On the other hand, my personal experience tells me that it's not going to be as easy to take your kid out to dinner when they are 1.5 years old vs. 6.5 months.

YMMV, of course... like you said, it all depends on the kid. However, I wouldn't say that we haven't adjusted, or that things aren't great otherwise... this is just in reference to eating out.

I guess you got lucky, ours just wants to throw her crayons on the floor and yell things to people sitting at the other tables and tries to get out of the high chair to run around the place. She's well disciplined, but in her mind, all bets are off at the restaurant. We've just up and walked out on more than one occasion.