I probably wouldn't have brought a tablet either, but I am not exactly sure how you all expected a bunch of 18 month olds or whatever to "socialize" in confined chairs at a restaurant.

I think that is odder than bringing entertainment for them. It is not like they are on a playground or a floor where they can play...

Seriously. How did you envision this going down?

Anonymous wrote:I am with you, OP. Would have never occurred to me to bring an iPad to a toddler brunch.

I also never brought an IPad to a restaurant. We ordered quickly, made sure the kids got their food first, and brought stickers and crayons for entertainment. And we watched to make surety stickers stayed on their paper, not on the table or anywhere else. These outings were always pretty short though. I don't think it's fair to expect toddlers to sit through a long, leisurely meal.

Anonymous wrote:I am not a device person but truly - what does it matter. At toddler stage - they aren't going to be playing at a restaurant and these parents probably wanted 45minutes of peace and conversation. If this was a play date - sure I'd judge but you said 45m, at a diner. ANYTHING that distracts the kid so I could drink my coffee would be great.

This was not a peaceful breakfast. It wasn’t at a remotely fancy place, and we all knew that there would be 5-6 little children there. We went into knowing it would be a mom and kid breakfast.

I guess I shouldn’t be but I am surprised by how hot and defensive the pro-tablet responses are and how nasty the attacks on OP. Shows me that the pro-tablet folks know they are cutting corners and don’t really want to deal with their kids on a kid-level.

Selfish parents who push off the hard work should not be surprised when their offspring are selfish and lazy, too. Hope they at least Skype with you in the old folks home.

And this is why I frequently see older children and preteens with tablets at restaurants. I find it horrifying. Learn to be a human.

Good for you, OP.

I am not a device person but truly - what does it matter. At toddler stage - they aren't going to be playing at a restaurant and these parents probably wanted 45minutes of peace and conversation. If this was a play date - sure I'd judge but you said 45m, at a diner. ANYTHING that distracts the kid so I could drink my coffee would be great.

My kid is still young (18months), but I have a question about tablets. Did you all buy dedicated tablets for your toddlers? Are they kid tablets? I don’t own an iPad and neither does DH, but does every other person in this area?

I'm not anti screen at all but I think it is weird.

I think that's weird too, OP. I have an almost 3 year old and he has never taken the tablet outside of our house except for airplane rides.

If we're out, he can color or play with some toys. My mom friends' kids are the same.

Anonymous wrote:Some kids are easier than others.

My first was easy to entertain with toys and stickers. My second isn’t and it’s nice to give her a device and be able to chill and enjoy my my meal and company.

+1

I am with you, OP. Would have never occurred to me to bring an iPad to a toddler brunch.

Anonymous wrote:The only time my son gets any screen time is when we are eating out or on an airplane. We don’t even have a TV at home. And since we only eat out about once a week, he only gets about 45 minutes of screen time a week.

How much screen time does your child get a week, OP?

I think it's amazing that an 18 months old toddler can maneuver their way around electronics, unlock codes etc at that age, and odd yours can't.

Anonymous wrote:You better have a private room if all you bitches are engaging your toddlers.
FFS.

We actually did! It was a diner, and they had a back room that wasn’t busy so they put us back there. Even still, the only other patrons were people with kids or very old people.

(This was not in DC.)

Anonymous wrote:I’m not anti-device, but yeah, that’s weird. I would have gone expecting it to be a social occasion for the kids, too.

Agreed. A friend did this for her three year old when we were out to dinner once. There were four kids between the two of us, plenty of opportunity for interaction. She sheepishly said, well, it was this or she goes back in the play area. Uhhh... send her back in the play area!