Earlier this week I was having lunch in a cute little restaurant in the Clarksville neighborhood called Galaxy Cafe (two thumbs up on the food, decor and service) and I saw something truly appalling. In fact, this scene was so appalling that I decided, “It’s time to start blogging!”
At the table next to mine sat two thirtysomething mothers. One mom had a small infant sleeping in its stroller. The other mother had an approximately 1 year old boy sitting in a high chair next to her, and in front of this boy was a PORTABLE DVD PLAYER!
There are so many things wrong with this that I’m not sure where to begin. Even if the concept of bringing a DVD player to a restaurant was okay (I’ll address that in a moment), it is absolutely NOT okay for a 12 month old. He clearly was paying no attention to it at all and spent his entire time throwing food on the floor (which the mother did not bother to glance at before she left the restaurant). Now, is this concept viable for any child? No, it’s not. The table is the place to interact, learn manners (both table and conversational), and generally be part of a social situation. If a child is incapable of having a 30- to 45-minute meal without some sort of electronic stimuli, something is clearly wrong. And in case you’re wondering, I feel the same way about Game Boy’s and iPods and even books at the table.
Believe me, I’m not heartless. I too once had very small children and I know how difficult it is to get together with your friends and have a reasonable conversation. You crave normalcy and adult speech patterns and you long for an uninterrupted meal. But friends, electronic babysitters are not the way to go. It’s a messy, slippery slope.
