Remember the thread about the Chicago restauranteur who took hell for
asking his patrons to control their children (via a nice little sign
asking them to "behave" and use "inside voices")? Here's the
follow-up: A parent who actually "gets it".
-L.
**************

http://www.suntimes.com/output/ontiv...edt-sue26.html

"Parents do kids no favor by giving up on discipline

November 26, 2005

BY SUE ONTIVEROS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Knock it off. That's what I want to say to every media type who has
turned that infamous sign at Andersonville's Taste of Heaven restaurant
into an issue of parents vs. those without kids. (Ah, if only those
parents had said those same words to their misbehaving darlings every
now and again!)

I know I should let the issue die, but if anyone should be standing up
for Dan McCauley, the owner of A Taste of Heaven, and the little sign
that kicked off such interest -- "Children of all ages have to behave
and use their indoor voices when coming to A Taste of Heaven" -- it
should be other parents. We, after all, are the ones who find our own
parenting style -- you know, the method that tries to instill
considerate and reasonable behavior in our offspring, especially out in
public -- put to the test around overindulgent parents who can't or
won't control their children.

We're the ones who know exactly the type of parent McCauley is talking
about with his sign. He's not trying to still the sweet chatter of
little children. We're betting these were kids who were screaming,
using furniture as a launching pad and wreaking havoc around what is a
business, remember, not the forest preserve. It's another good wager
that all the while the parents just stood or sat there and acted as if
nothing was happening.

From our children's earliest age we have run into these goofs. When the
rest of the parents are teaching their toddlers to wait their turn in
line for the slide, these are the folks who let their kid barge in
front and apologize by saying, "Addison just can't wait." Gee, why not?

They're the parents who appear oblivious to the fact that their kid is
smacking and kicking his classmates, yet are the first to complain if
that same sweetie gets 30 seconds less of soccer playing time than
another player.

They're the parents who'll make it tough for you to enforce curfew in
junior high because Ethan and Noah can roam the streets for all hours
because their parents "don't believe in it." (At 14, they say, "He's
responsible and knows when to come home." Ha!)

They're the ones who forget that teenage hormones are raging just when
common sense goes on hiatus. It's these parents who'll host the coed
sleepover, saying all the kids want to do is ''cuddle.''

They're the ones who will let your underage offspring drink in their
home because they're teaching their own Madison and Olivia ''how to
handle alcohol responsibly.'' Of course, they'll do nothing to make
sure your kid doesn't wrap himself around a tree while driving home
later that night. That isn't part of the lesson, I guess.

Yep, some days parenting is a tough job. Some days I feel I fail
miserably at it, especially now that my son is a teenager.

But, I do remember those early days. Sometimes, especially when they
are little, you can't do the things you did before you had kids. Yes,
we all know Chuck E. Cheese's and similar restaurants take a lot for
adults to tolerate, but that's one of the tradeoffs of parenthood.

I don't want other parents to screech back at their kids or, worse yet,
smack them around. But I wasn't kidding about just saying firmly when
they're misbehaving, "Knock it off" (with a look that tells 'em you
mean business). Works wonders.

Sometimes you have to be firm with them. As parents, we're the ones who
are supposed to be guiding our children. And parents do their kids no
favor by giving up on that duty.

So, don't think it's only the childless that are giving McCauley their
business these days. It's anyone, including parents, who likes his
stand for considerate behavior and responsible parenting."