Your Child is Not Cute

Okay, okay I'm being extreme. Your child is just not cute when he or she is misbehaving and you watch in awe. I'm not talking about an isolated outburst or behavior that the parents are at least trying to correct. I'm talking about blatant obnoxious behavior that is totally ignored by the equally obnoxious parents. Those around you do not find it adorable. During a recent dinner with a friend whom I had not seen in months, a couple, their son, and their grandson were seated across the small restaurant. It's a pizzeria restaurant, nothing fancy, but still a place that you expect to enjoy a nice Italian meal. The child, about 3 years old, decided to use his fork and knife as drumsticks and proceeded to clank his Snapple bottle and bread plate. The father thanked him for the performance and told him "that's enough." That was the last the father admonished his son (much like the tap dancing incident described in a previous post). The one man band continued numerous times, scraping the knife across the bread plate while the father ate and the grandparents lovingly stared at him. I cringed. I attempted to be patient and focus on my conversation, but the "nails on a blackboard" sounds coming from this table was very difficult to ignore. I glanced over a number of times, making eye contact with the grandmother in the hopes that she would break out of her stupor and tell her offspring's offspring to stop. All that needed to happen in this situation was for the father to take away the fork and knife, but I guess he didn't want to interrupt his own meal in order to do so. Parents, stop ruining other people's meals, manicures, movies, etc because you cannot bring yourself to even attempt to instill good manners in your children. I don't think your child is cute when he is banging utensils for twenty minutes straight. In fact, the only time I find a child cute in a public setting is when he or she is behaving. If they can't handle a restaurant, nail salon, movie theater, or Broadway play then get a babysitter or stay home.