FreckleTown - Katy TX - Out on The Town

Out on The Town

Want to go out with your family and enjoy a nice, relaxing dinner? Teaching your children table manners and restaurant manners will go a long way in making your nights out good memories and not bad ones. The skills you teach them now will be a useful for the rest of their lives. Carmelo's restaurant offers Club Etiquette to reinforce the skills your children are learning at home.

Here are some practical skills to get you started at your house:

Wait to sit until others sit.
Unfold your napkin, place it over your lap, but don't pick up your fork.
Watch and wait. When a parent or the host picks up a fork, then you can do the same.
If you're eating "family style", pass the dishes from left to right. Take a small portion, then pass the dish to the person on your right.
Sit up straight and bring the food to your mouth instead of hunching down over your plate.
Always use your utensils unless everyone is eating finger food.
Chew with your mouth closed; talk with your mouth empty.
Wipe your mouth with a napkin instead of licking your lips. Same for fingers.
Ask your family how their day was and share something from your own day.
When talking in a restaurant, use a quieter voice than normal.
Remember to say please and thank you.
Be respectful of the wait staff, buss boys, and hostess.
When finished ask permission to leave the dinner table.
Help clean the table when everyone is finished.

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written by Georgia , June 05, 2008

Wonderful article. A barrage of ill-mannered TV media has whittled away at civil behavior (and it isn't just with kids!). An awareness that your children's behavior can impact the dining experience of others' is important.
Also, good wait staff will quicken the pace for a family w/ small children...face it, their attention span is shorter than an adults. I would tip liberally when service was prompt and I could get my children out of a restaurant before they got restless.

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written by Keri , April 07, 2008

I've been to restaurants and have witnessed horrible behavior by children. One thing to teach kids is that if they cannot behave then they will be taken out. No one should have to listen to an unruly child. It's rude. I know the majority of children try it at least once but sticking to your rules and removing them will at least honor those around you. smilies/cheesy.gif

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written by Phyllis , March 07, 2008

GREAT article! I just went out with my family and it was a disaster. I ended up shoveling in my food as fast as possible just to leave because my two year-old was so loud.

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