Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post

Winni · 02-09-2006, 04:02 PM

When Canoe first opened, we went and did not like the food much. We had been hearing that it had improved. One thing we also liked about the "old" Coe House was its policy on children, i.e. older children and only if they are well behaved. When we heard Canoe had a room for adults only, we decided to try it again.

We dined one evening last week and were well pleased. The food was very good, the room we were in was quiet, and the servings were so generous we took half of each of our meals home for the next night's dinner. The desserts were excellent also, though the barkeep really needs to learn to make a chocolate martini without cream in it! Never-the-less, we were quite pleased.

Please don't misunderstand us about the kids...it's not the children that irritate us. In fact, we are both elementary school teachers and love our work and kids! We also love our own, now grown children. What irritates us is that so many parents these days do not pay attention to their children and teach them manners. If this were really happening, I would have no problem with children in restaurants. Unfortunately, it is no longer the norm.

What I see now is parents totally ignoring their children, letting them yell when they don't get what they want (which is usually just attention) and then reinforcing that behavior, and the worst, allowing them to run around freely. The worst case I ever saw, though, was in a restaurant in Boston where a mother spent the *entire* meal on her cell phone while her poor son, about age 10, sat pushing his food around his plate. He was quiet, but it was a sad sight. How can parents treat their children as if they are "non-people"?

If children are brought to a restaurant, they must have interaction with the parents, be part of the conversation, taught what "indoor" voices are, learn to properly order and use manners. It's not the children's' fault; it's the parents' selfishness and ignorance that causes the problems. I nearly got socked in the face once (honestly, threatened by the parent) when I had to speak to a parent about allowing a toddler to scream continuously about 6 inches from my eardrum.

So, Canoe, I applaud you for having an adults only quiet space in addition to a seperate place where, hopefully, parents will teach their children acceptable social behavior. This, of course, assumes the parents themselves understand the concept!

We'll be back!

02-09-2006, 04:02 PM	#32
Winni Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 104 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Renewed Faith in Canoe! When Canoe first opened, we went and did not like the food much. We had been hearing that it had improved. One thing we also liked about the "old" Coe House was its policy on children, i.e. older children and only if they are well behaved. When we heard Canoe had a room for adults only, we decided to try it again. We dined one evening last week and were well pleased. The food was very good, the room we were in was quiet, and the servings were so generous we took half of each of our meals home for the next night's dinner. The desserts were excellent also, though the barkeep really needs to learn to make a chocolate martini without cream in it! Never-the-less, we were quite pleased. Please don't misunderstand us about the kids...it's not the children that irritate us. In fact, we are both elementary school teachers and love our work and kids! We also love our own, now grown children. What irritates us is that so many parents these days do not pay attention to their children and teach them manners. If this were really happening, I would have no problem with children in restaurants. Unfortunately, it is no longer the norm. What I see now is parents totally ignoring their children, letting them yell when they don't get what they want (which is usually just attention) and then reinforcing that behavior, and the worst, allowing them to run around freely. The worst case I ever saw, though, was in a restaurant in Boston where a mother spent the entire meal on her cell phone while her poor son, about age 10, sat pushing his food around his plate. He was quiet, but it was a sad sight. How can parents treat their children as if they are "non-people"? If children are brought to a restaurant, they must have interaction with the parents, be part of the conversation, taught what "indoor" voices are, learn to properly order and use manners. It's not the children's' fault; it's the parents' selfishness and ignorance that causes the problems. I nearly got socked in the face once (honestly, threatened by the parent) when I had to speak to a parent about allowing a toddler to scream continuously about 6 inches from my eardrum. So, Canoe, I applaud you for having an adults only quiet space in addition to a seperate place where, hopefully, parents will teach their children acceptable social behavior. This, of course, assumes the parents themselves understand the concept! We'll be back!