READ MORE: Restaurant owner announces he's enforcing steep service charge during World Cup over fears tourists will tip badly and treat his staff like a 'cheap date'See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JAN LEEMING FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 12:50 BST, 21 June 2026 | Updated: 12:58 BST, 21 June 2026
Little did I imagine the storm I’d raise with a post on X. Having taken a friend as a birthday treat to a not inexpensive hotel restaurant, our meal was to become memorable for something other than the food: A small child throwing a tantrum… of which the small child’s parents appeared blissfully unaware.Silly me. I hadn’t realised, or checked, that the establishment was advertised as ‘child friendly’ and had a children’s menu.That said, you might reasonably expect that little princes and princesses would be being cared for with a child-minding service at such an upmarket venue during a meal. At least, I did.I wouldn’t, however, have bothered with my (inflammatory) post but for the attitude of the receptionist when I paid. A birthday treat lunch for a friend came with an unwanted soundtrack for TV star Jan Leeming, after a child nearby threw a tantrum...In response to the customary ‘Everything all right?’ I praised the surroundings (two lovely lounges with squishy sofas) and the meal itself, but added that the whole evening was ‘slightly spoiled’ by a screaming child.Had the receptionist mollified me with ‘Oh, I’m sorry madam but I do hope you enjoyed your experience otherwise’ I’d have been happy, but I got a look which inferred I was the one at fault.My resulting post, making these points, garnered an enormous response on X (formerly Twitter), in the papers and on TV – and it would seem the vast majority agreed with me.When I was a child, there were very few occasions to be taken out to eat because there were very few restaurants. But we did visit friends and usually behaved ourselves.My father never smacked me, but he would reprimand me on occasion, when necessary, and make me feel ashamed and only too willing to be good. Unruly youngsters should not be brought to fine dining establishments until they can behaveI don’t know what has gone amiss. Is it that, in so many families, both parents go out to work and no one sees to behaviour and manners? Is it that so many walk around with earplugs listening to music in their own little world that they’re oblivious to everyone else? And don’t, for example, even think of opening doors for others?It’s not just restaurants that are the problem. Often, I’ve found myself stepping into the gutter when a group of youngsters refuses to give way. Children walking all over seats on trains – or with their feet up on seats – is far from unusual.I don’t think children should be taken to restaurants or other places of general entertainment until they know how to behave.If they do misbehave, surely it’s the duty of the parent to remove them until they calm down. At the theatre, I’ve even had a woman behind me with a young child on her lap during a production of Chicago (hardly a family-friendly show). She did, admittedly, realise her mistake and leave halfway through.The phrase ‘manners maketh man’ is attributed to William of Wykeham, a 14th century bishop of Winchester and chancellor of England. Perhaps he too was an ‘old boot’, as one person unkindly called me on social media after my post on X.But I firmly believe he was correct and it’s sad so many folk these days have neither manners nor consideration for others.
