Attended a local gallary’s opening of a new show and really enjoyed the artwork and the surroundings. However I gotta say, whats with all the kids? And I mean little babies and toddlers ‘attending’ with mom and dad? Hey, I am all for including kids in activities but please, find a sitter or go during a less crowded time and let the adults have a nice time without having to watch where we are stepping. Also, bringing a child into a store with alot of ‘high end’ merchandise is risky enough and with the crowd there it just increases the possibility of creating more risk. Look, I am not against kids I am just saying that there is a time and place for kids to be included and this was not one of them!!
— Likes kids but not always
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.
What is it with parents bringing their kids out with them wherever they go?
I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. I am not against kids, just parents should be more aware of where they bring them.
For example, I was at the QE2 showhomes the other day and there was a lady there with three kids. They all appeared to be under five or six years old. These little monsters were running around and screaming like holy terrors and getting in everyone’s way, while mom just ignored them. What value does a two year old get from touring a showhome?
When I was younger, my parents never took me and my siblings out too much. Why? Because we were those holy terror kids. We were left at home with a babysitter or with family.
So to all you parents who drag your kids everywhere:
Think about where you are going first. If it is not age appropriate, either get a sitter or don’t bother going at all.
I agree with this bitch BUT not all kids are holy terrors. My kids are more then capable of going to the art gallery, which we have more then once and they kept their hands of stuff and were quiet and took it all in, had a great time, or any other place. I can’t stand parents who allow their kids to run around screaming. Kids need to taught to be respectful and not enough of them are now a days.
I think it’s just the latest cool trendy thing to do for artsy-fartsy yuppy parents. You know the ones I’m talking about. They seem to have invaded Halifax over the past few years.
“Ohh look, my 6 month old just LOVES this piece showing a dead dog being molested by black leprechauns, painted by LOCAL artist Beth MacDonald! We are sooo cultured, educated, and trendy!”
LMAO @ qpmzwonxeibcruv
They all go for lattes and sushi afterwards.
Cue one of Lilac’s “children have the RIGHT to be there” tirades…
“Didn’t you know, darlings? Babies are the NEW black!”
I think you’re right, qpmzwonxeibcruv, these children have become like trendy accessories. I’m all for exposing kids to things outside of the typical ‘child-friendly’ realm, but there’s a time and a place, and parents need to make sure their kids aren’t ruining other people’s enjoyment.
I would take a more conditional approach of classifying small ones/artsy fartsy parents with drunks in certain establishments. Basically, the establishment has the choice of throwing out certain patrons based on bad behaviour not based on a demographic value of any sort. Good behaved kid with good behaved parent gets the same treatment as a well behaved drinking patron. But, the second a kid starts running, screaming, biting, breaking and/or throwing shit everywhere – party’s over. Their ass is curbside.
i hear ya OP, i was there, and thought the exact same thing. ugh.
Fuck you OP. You were young once too.
Yes, we were all young once. However, when I was a small child, my parents didn’t take me to places like art galleries, or the theatre, or upscale restaurants. Essentially anywhere adults would be speaking in hushed tones. Instead, they took me to more child-friendly places until I was old enough to behave properly.
Agreed.
Ladies, leave your brood at home in its nest.
No matter how proud you are of little Johnnie or Susie, you are interfering with the enjoyment of others. Taking your toddler to a high-brow even like the symphony, will not help it learn to love Mozart. You can do that at home.
Instead, the crashing thumps of the orchestra will likely make it shit itself, and learn to hate classical music.
And bringing your offspring to a gala event, says nothing good about you, other than “Oh look, she’s at it AGAIN”, and provides a bit of comic relief when your little Einstein puts a pea up his nose at the black-tie dinner and howls like a banshee
A lady brought a newborn when I saw the most recent Harry Potter movie in theatres. I was shocked. Not only does it disturb other people, but those movies are damn loud- the sounds could be harmful to a baby’s sensitive ears (hell, sometimes they even hurt my ears and I haven’t been a baby for twenty odd years). Some people just lack common sense.. parents or not.
I think children should be exposed to all sorts of cultural experiences – the art gallery actually has a wonderful childern’s program!
susanle63…I agree that our youth should be ‘exposed” to cultural experience…but at events that are inteligently geared towards them (which there needs to be nore of).
An event for adults will not benefit your toddler, because it will pass over their small Winston Churchill type heads…
I do hate things like “Barney” and so on….but remember, you are wasting your time bringing a squalling infant to a production of “Equus”…
I haven’t read the above comments so my apologies if this was previously mentioned but our art gallery runs kids programs all the time. Family programs that accept kids of all ages, even the really little ones. They actually have quite a large room devoted exclusively to childrens art activities. So there are opportunities for parents to expose their kids to art without having to go piss off stuffy ‘high end’ people at fancy gallery openings.
You can go to the gallery on weekends, do a craft with your kids, walk around after and look at some art…
Oh, and while were talking about the gallery KUDOS to whoever did that interactive exhibition with all the old-school technology in it… tape cassettes, radios, computers, record players, camcorders, etc. Not only was that amazing, it was fun. I must have spent an hour exploring that room with the piano, suitcases and giant rainbow tower made of old album covers.
I have no problem with children at events IF (and this is a BIG IF) 2 conditions are met:
1) The child knows how to behave properly in that particular setting. ie if they are old enough to know that you don’t touch things you’re not allowed to, and the parent removes the child from the setting if the child is unable or unwilling to follow the rules. (Children who are still at the hit/bite/scream stage are by definition too young to be attending any kind of public social event.)
2) The event or setting is appropriate for the age of the child. Kids at family-oriented events—fine. Kids at adult movies, quiet fancy restaurants, challenging art events—no way.
Who actually thinks a 5-year-old enjoys “dinner chit chat” and then oh, let’s say, a nice soothing Quentin Tarantino movie? (Honesetly, I saw 6-and 7-year-olds at “Grindhouse.”) I hate seeing kids at adult movies. Not only is the content wildly inappropriate, but the kids have no idea what’s going on so they talk and ask questions and look for other (loud, annoying) ways to amuse themselves while the rest of us are trying to watch the movie.
I have no problem with good, polite, well mannered kids who know how to behave properly in “grown-up” situations.
But I have a real problem with parents who think it’s a laff riot when their unsocialized little tyrant is running around an expensive restaurant (like my very favourite Indian place), pushing over the chairs, tripping the waiters, and getting coffee and food spilled all over the place. If the parents can’t or won’t take responsibility for their child, they should be asked to leave. (And leave the rest of us PAYING CUSTOMERS in peace.)
PS:
The first time I was allowed to go to McDonald’s, I was 5—Grade 1. It was a rare special treat, and I still remember my mom explaining the “rules” beforehand, and mentioning that we would only be coming back if this visit went well.
I was 9 before I ever set foot in a “fancy” restaurant. Again, it was a special treat with my grandparents, and again the rules were made clear in advance.
Both events still stand out in my mind as a “big deal” in my early years, and I recall feeling extremely “grown-up” the first time I ordered something off a menu. I don’t recall feeling “restricted” because of knowing the rules. If anything, I felt proud of knowing exactly what to do in a new place, and knowing that I aced it, and could therefore do it again sometime, hopefully soon.
This may sound shocking, but throughout most of my childhood, adults actually planned some time AWAY from their children to spend with their own friends; the kids only started doing things with adults when they were old enough to enjoy it and/or behave properly.
I should have clarified; first this wasnt the public art gallery which does have a childerns program – although the childern at this art show may have been too young for even that and they were well behaved. However I still stand by my opinion that something should be ‘kid free’