One mom is warning parents against bringing kids to fancy restaurants after her night out with her husband and toddler left her with buyer’s remorse. Aiza_talks (@aiza_talks) shared her experience in a video posted this summer, which has since garnered over 205,000 views.
In the viral TikTok, Aiza_talks presents a slideshow of photos that captures the various moments of their night out. She narrates the events that unfolded during her birthday dinner celebration that began with a fancy dinner at the River Palm Terrace, an upscale steakhouse restaurant in New Jersey.
The video begins with a photo of a toddler and her father seated at a restaurant table, the father looking visibly exasperated.
“This is why I recommend you don’t take your kids to nice restaurants. You can see the look on my husband’s face,” she stated.
The next photo shows the toddler standing on the booth seat, reaching out to poke a piece of cake.
Referring to the photo, Aiza_talks said “We took her to like a really nice restaurant on my birthday because I had mom guilt and I wanted to spend the day with her and this is—yeah—the vibes, and then my cake came and she decided to put her finger into it and then tell us that both of us can’t eat it,” she noted.
Next, a photo shows the toddler drinking from a stemmed glass, her face buried in the glass while the stem is pointed upward.
“She wanted to drink a lot of ginger ale.”
Pictures can be deceiving
Although the photos seemed to show that the family of three had an enjoyable night, Aiza_talks concludes the video by insisting she won’t be having another fancy night out with a toddler anytime soon.
“OK, so obviously I love my child and that’s why even though we had childcare, I still wanted to spend my birthday with her, so we took her with us to the River Palm Terrace. After spending over $200 on dinner [not] including tip, we didn’t even know what he ate, and the entire time we were just both on edge and panicking and like just trying to get her to calm down so in short, don’t ruin other people’s dinner,” she stated.
“She can go to Five Guys, Chipotle, and coffee shops with us. She’s not going to a nice restaurant anymore for a while.”
The parents were at odds in the comments
In the comments, some supported Aiza_talks, and those who rejected the idea that kids shouldn’t be brought to fancy restaurants.
“[I] [don’t] even have kids… I 1000% agree kids don’t need to go everywhere parents also deserve some alone time,” one comment read.
“With our toddler we bring her [spill-proof] cup, tablet, coloring book… [She’s] pretty occupied and well behaved. But we only got to Denny’s and Olive Garden,” someone else offered.
“We took our toddler to Hawaii and had to eat dinner in shifts at restaurants,” another said.
Those who disagreed were equally vocal.
“I am a mom and I will be bringing my toddler whenever and wherever I see fit. He likes going to restaurants,” someone wrote.
Another commenter suggested, “I wouldn’t stop taking them to nice restaurants. Just do it at 5[pm] so you aren’t stressed.”
‘Is it only America that acts like kids shouldn’t be in public?’
When speaking with Aiza_talks, she had this to say regarding the debate in her comment section:
“If I’m being honest, I don’t even read the comments anymore because [there are] so many. I feel like overall, most of them are bashing the United States and the kids that live here. And why they act the way they act according to their diets,” she wrote.
@aiza_talks #greenscreen children don’t belong in nice restaurants. It’s not fair to everyone else who is paying for fine dining and trying to enjoy their night. #isaidwhatisaid #toddlersoftiktok #nokidsallowed #sorrynotsorry ♬ original sound – aiza_talks
Amid the ongoing debate in the comments about whether children belong in fancy restaurants, one question shifted the conversation: “Is it only [America] that acts like kids shouldn’t be in public?” Aiza_talks mentioned this shift when she commented on the reaction to her viral video.
“I mean, I will say that I feel like overall people are right about the differences between European food versus American food, which became more of a topic [in the comment section]. We use a lot of red 40 and dyes in our food and in Europe there are so many ingredients that are banned. I think that has a lot to do with why children act the way they do.”
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