The no-kids-allowed movement is spreading. — Page 3

When I was growing up there were a lot of "no kids allowed" places and events. This is nothing new. What happened was the businesses found out they could make a lot more money catering to families. As a result, parents no longer had to (or wanted to) leave their kids at home. So now they bring them everywhere in those SUV-sized strollers and giant-sized plastic wagons as if they were pioneers crossing the Great Prairie, and they think they're entitled to special rules and treatment---because many businesses do offer them special rules and treatment to gain these customers.

It isn't just the parents that caused the free-for-all behavior. It's the businesses, too. Perhaps they're even more responsible for allowing and encouraging it to happen.

So this sounds like more of a return to "the old ways," before The Family Unit called the shots.

And I for one love it!

I wish Disneyland would offer a kid-free day, but the flack and bad publicity they would receive for even thinking of such a thing would be overwhelming. But I'd love to walk around the park and ride the rides without all the screaming, crying, and stroller navigating.

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Updated On: 7/28/11 at 09:22 AM

I said no screaming and crying!



At least we could eliminate the strollers ... but I want all three!

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Updated On: 7/28/11 at 09:32 AM

... not to mention their children.

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My folks are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in a month. The celebrations include mass with the whole family (both my brother and their families) brunch after, and a nice dinner someplace they my parents aren't telling us. While my older niece and nephew (12 and 9) are invited (they are extremely well behaved), the younger two (5 and 3) are not. When my folks asked my brother and his wife if they were offended they responded, "A night without the kids? SIGN ME UP!" My point being, you'd think some couples with kids would welcome the idea of leaving the kids behind.

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Our wedding invitations were sent with "No Children, Please" at the bottom. I wanted no children, but I also wanted no confusion or hurt feelings. If one guest had brought their kid(s), everyone would have assumed that we had invited them.

I've also been invited to weddings with kids, but I have never brought mine along. Having attended those weddinds, it's a decision I do not regret. My kids were always well behaved, but weddings are long days, and that's asking a bit much of them. Better to get a sitter and enjoy the event.

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I agree that adult only places are a great idea. I mean, there are places where adults shouldn't go without children, so I don't see the big deal of having those places for just adults.

I can't believe these diaper stories. Whatever happened to shirts and shoes being required to get into public places that are not the beach? Or do they not count for infants? They should because that is gross.

I agree that wedding or other party invitations should be made clear to who is invited. My sister did not do that for hers and my dad's friend was not sure if he could bring his kids along, who are over the age of 13. My other sister did invited her husband's nephews and a friend's brother, but I know they were close to these kids. It also helped because her husband's stepmother made little bags of toys for them to play with and take home.

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When it first opened, the Bellagio hotel in Vegas had a no children policy. It's since been lifted, I believe, but I was a kid at the time and really wanted to see the hotel (it was my dream at the time to build hotels). The guards wouldn't let me in even though my parents assured them I was very well-behaved (which was true), so I wrote a letter to the hotel management and received a response saying that I would be allowed in if my parents made an appointment with a business inside the hotel (store, restaurant, show, etc), so they did and I stayed in that hotel the entire day. Nobody said a peep
Anyway, what I'm getting at is that perhaps instead of having a ban on children, these places should simply make it more difficult for children to get in, or even a no misbehaving policy in which the children and parents would be thrown out.

Vulgaria?




(A Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reference.)

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I wonder if it's worse in really big cities like NY and LA.

I actually think most bad behavior is worse in NY. I see people acting like unbelievable sh*ts and think "You'd never get away with this in _____________."

I think it is all about the area. In my hometown, you see some children being as obnoxious as in NY, but not nearly as often. It is Tennessee, after all. A mama is just as likely to yank a child up by the arm and slap a thigh as she is to ignore problem behavior.

In Sweden, on the other hand, children are pretty well mannered.

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Ugh. SO many things that can be said about so very many things. "No kids allowed" is definitely a selling point for my friends and for myself. I have nephews - both of whom are very well behaved to the point that it shocks me - My sister is the single mother of a one year old and she has him putting toys away, sitting quietly with picture books and even throwing away his own diapers! - but nevertheless, I would never presume to take him certain places and I could NEVER picture being out with them and allowing them or myself to behave the way I often see parents behaving. I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself to blame the parents and not the child, but boy can that be difficult.

A few of my pet peeves.

1. Parents who think that everything and everyone everywhere must be appropriate for a 5 year old. Be careful what you do and say - there might be some random 4 year old that you have nothing to do with raising or bearing somewhere on a publis street in Manhattan!

2. Parents with those giant tank-sized strollers. Particularly the double wide ones for twins or when seveal mothers walk two or three abreast down a sidewalk like riot police behind shields. They just BARREL through people using their little brats as a battering ram.

3. Parents on public transit that let their kids scream and ran wild.. in a confined metal tube! Their brat screams and they just pretend that it is not happening.. or when during rush hour, you step onto a seemingly crowded train after an exhausting day and the first thing you see is a parent seated with their toddler sitting in a seat next to them. PUT YOUR KID ON YOUR LAP, PLEASE!! .. or the times that you step onto a train that isn't packed, but the seats are full and you see an entire section of seats where a pair of mothers has allowed their children to stretch out and take a nap across a few sections of 3 seats... and last, but certainly most revolting is when they wheel the tank-sized stroll onto the train and STOP just inside the door and refuse to move to allow anyone else to step on or off. It's like a barricade. One of these days, I swear Eponine is going to crawl over one of them and sing "A Little Fall of Rain".

Even today, he scares the sh*t out of me.

I rarely had nightmares as a (well-behaved) child, but the Child-Catcher in CHITTY... scared the crap out of me too. Almost as much as "the look" from my mom. And/or Dad.

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