Children at restaurants - but it is the adults behaving badly

[Anonymous]

We went to a fairly upscale restaurant tonight for our anniversary. Seated nearby were two men and two children who were probably 4 years old. During the dinner the men were unnecessarily loud and unruly trying to entertain the children. The men were singing children's songs and talking to the children in the overloud way some people have with children. The children were basically sitting at the table, not saying much and eating. I think they were so overwhelmed by the over the top behavior that they could not respond. After 15 minutes I asked the waiter to have them tone it down. They were fortunately almost ready to leave but the waiter still said something (I think he was waiting for the opportunity). I get it if you want to bring children to an adult restaurant, but can't you act like an adult and leave the childish behavior to the children.