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I have two different opinions regarding the story I just read about a restaurant in Oregon banning anyone under age six.

The mommy in me immediately responds with, “This is ludacris! How dare they ban young children and babies from a restaurant? Our family has as much right to be there as anyone else!” I detest when anyone mounts an attack against children, no matter how trivial, and I initially saw it as just that: an attack.

The other side of me is the one that remembers what it was like before my children came along. I remember trying to enjoy a nice meal alongside a family with young children who were going ballistic. Not only did it make my meal not so enjoyable, but it also changed the entire tempo of the room.

Thinking about that, I realized that it’s not necessarily my kids that the attack is being mounted against, but instead the rule is there to protect patrons from those kids who are unruly and who have parents who refuse to discipline them. The restaurant owner says that he just wants to have a restaurant that’s marketed toward adults, and to tell you the truth I might even go to a place like this if I was out on a date with my husband because it would indeed be nice to have dinner with the guarantee of no screaming children.

I’d much rather know right off the bat if a restaurant didn’t want children there because then I could just avoid it with my kids instead of going there and having the staff glare at us the whole time.

Besides, I would much rather give my hard-earned money to someone who doesn’t mind a couple of kids eating at their establishment.

Tags: dining out with baby, eating out with kids, taking kids to restaurants