Dinner party etiquette

[stevenpatrick]

So you're part of the problem bro.

Taking our kid to a well reputed Thai restaurant here in Seattle at 5 PM is a bit different than taking our kid at 7 PM to a 5 course privately made meal.

 

[JWolf74]

I love it when people from the Midwest think that Thai food consists of noodles and soy sauce. And think it's exotic and expensive! Wolf, I understand that no matter where you and your wife go, you order the dish that has the most carbs. But next time (first time?) you go to a Thai restaurant, get a squid yum salad

Hey, you were the one pretending it was something special. And there is nothing special about squid.

And I clearly order whatever food challenge is available, because meat sweats are weakness leaving the body.

 

[naturalmwa]

Taking our kid to a well reputed Thai restaurant here in Seattle at 5 PM is a bit different than taking our kid at 7 PM to a 5 course privately made meal.

We all know Thai is like crack. Get the little fella hooked and he can't stay away.

 

[hawkfan_03]

My wife and I were invited to our friend's house last weekend for a dinner party for our friend's birthday. There were about 12 people that came, and the host hired a private chef to cook and serve an awesome 5 course Thai meal. Plenty of wine was served, and ended up lasting quite awhile. All of the couples had kids. But one couple decided it was OK to bring their 3 year old to this dinner party. I just assumed it was common knowledge that something like this was for adults only, so pretty much the whole time the mom and dad were chasing around their little devil while the rest of us were enjoying each others' company. Nothing was said to the parents, and they never offered any kind of apology. The whole thing seemed off to me. Am I in the wrong here to assume this isn't a "kid friendly" event, and it's an obvious assumption that no kids are allowed? I may be in the wrong here but I don't think so.

I don't even want to look at the 40 responses before me but no. There are no kids at this event. Should it techincially have been laid out? Maybe. But what parent wants to go to that dinner with kids?

 

[swagsurfer02]

Is SP advocating the abortion of a 3 year old?

I get confused easily..

 

[BABiscuit]

I remember this one dinner party we had. We flew in an private Thai chef straight from Thailand. He made the best six course Thai meal ever. Kids weren't a problem though. They all came along because we flew in the chef's 12 year old son and his 10 year old daughter and they babysat the kids in the basement during the party. The best part was once the dinner was over and the kids were asleep, all the men retired to the man cave and took turns having sex with the 12 year old Thai boy. A seventh course so to speak! I don't think the women even knew what was going on. We still laugh about it when we get together.

 

[uniFIGHTuniFIGHT]

My wife and I were invited to our friend's house last weekend for a dinner party for our friend's birthday. There were about 12 people that came, and the host hired a private chef to cook and serve an awesome 5 course Thai meal. Plenty of wine was served, and ended up lasting quite awhile. All of the couples had kids. But one couple decided it was OK to bring their 3 year old to this dinner party. I just assumed it was common knowledge that something like this was for adults only, so pretty much the whole time the mom and dad were chasing around their little devil while the rest of us were enjoying each others' company. Nothing was said to the parents, and they never offered any kind of apology. The whole thing seemed off to me. Am I in the wrong here to assume this isn't a "kid friendly" event, and it's an obvious assumption that no kids are allowed? I may be in the wrong here but I don't think so.

You're in the wrong. None of you are too important for the company of a 3-year-old. The 3-year-old was probably the most interesting person at your dinner party.

 

[uniFIGHTuniFIGHT]

I can't speak for SP, but there are times when we just want to go out with our friends without kids to have adult time. It's not that we're out swinging or doing hugely inappropriate things.....it's just kind of nice to be able to be out past 8-9 pm with other adults without having to monitor and deal with kids. Even when they're well-behaved, there's an extra level of effort that has to go into a night out.

Do you approach those evenings with the self-importance of a pseudo-socialite?

 

[uniFIGHTuniFIGHT]

Taking our kid to a well reputed Thai restaurant here in Seattle at 5 PM is a bit different than taking our kid at 7 PM to a 5 course privately made meal.

This is true. You look WAY better if you take your drooler out in public early. I bet the other 3 couples who didn't bring their droolers applaud your etiquette. Etiquette is important.

 

[SailorJerryHawk]

This must be why I've never faced this problem.

Ewwww.

 

[perk1729]

Ewwww.

 

[GarryO37]

Well put. My thoughts exactly.

How many children do you have SP?

 

[GarryO37]

I love it when people from the Midwest think that Thai food consists of noodles and soy sauce. And think it's exotic and expensive! Wolf, I understand that no matter where you and your wife go, you order the dish that has the most carbs. But next time (first time?) you go to a Thai restaurant, get a squid yum salad

There's nothing special about squid.

 

[hawkeye54545]

There's nothing special about squid.

You have never had Seattle sweet corn and squid salad topped off with a West coast microbrew.

To die for!

 

[Lone Clone]

My wife and I were invited to our friend's house last weekend for a dinner party for our friend's birthday. There were about 12 people that came, and the host hired a private chef to cook and serve an awesome 5 course Thai meal. Plenty of wine was served, and ended up lasting quite awhile. All of the couples had kids. But one couple decided it was OK to bring their 3 year old to this dinner party. I just assumed it was common knowledge that something like this was for adults only, so pretty much the whole time the mom and dad were chasing around their little devil while the rest of us were enjoying each others' company. Nothing was said to the parents, and they never offered any kind of apology. The whole thing seemed off to me. Am I in the wrong here to assume this isn't a "kid friendly" event, and it's an obvious assumption that no kids are allowed? I may be in the wrong here but I don't think so.

Maybe the parents responded to the invitation by saying they couldn't get a sitter, and the host said no problem, bring the little rugrat along.

 

[DutchyFunStar]

I think it is obvious that some of you have never had friends over to your home for a home cooked meal or have been invited to a friend's house for one. Burgers on the grill do not count. And a group dinner at a restaurant is no where near as nice.

 

[stevenpatrick]

Maybe the parents responded to the invitation by saying they couldn't get a sitter, and the host said no problem, bring the little rugrat along.

Like I said before, I seriously doubt it. The faces and general demeanor of the hosts strongly indicate that wasn't the case