Manners Matter More Than Age at Restaurants

I found Vicki Iovine’s generalizations about kids in restaurants (“Face It: Restaurants Don’t Roll Out Welcome Mat for Kids,” May 23) to be silly. She says that “even a well-behaved child is . . . unable to sit for a full meal.” Nonsense. My husband and I have been taking our 5-year-old to restaurants of all kinds since she was just a few months old. She sits still, sometimes orders her own food, and exhibits the good manners we’ve been teaching her all along. My 2-year-old also comes along, and he’s never embarrassed us yet. We don’t allow them to run around, speak loudly, play with their food or pester other diners. If a meal runs long and the kids get antsy, we simply take dessert to go.

What’s more, both kids love going out to eat, contrary to Iovine’s assertion that no child under 6 truly enjoys dining out. Ask my son if he wants to go out for quesadillas and he’ll make a beeline for the front door.

If other diners can’t tolerate having quiet, well-behaved children eating nearby, I’m not going to worry about it.

ELIZABETH WEAVER

Mar Vista

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Ms. Iovine: Congrats on your new column. It’s great! Even though it’s a “girls” column, it’s great for guys to read to get insight into how their better half thinks!

ANDY COHEN

Via Internet