Parent Discrimination?

Has anyone else noticed a difference between how you get treated in stores/restaurants when you have kids? Before we have kids, or the few times we've been out by ourselves, we get treated really well. We get a good table in the restaurant, the wait staff chats with us, our food is hot and fresh, we get asked if we want dessert. In stores we get talked to by the associates. We get information about the products we're looking at (whether we want it or not!), people are nice...

When we go out with the kids...our VERY WELL BEHAVED KIDS...we get the table at the back of the restaurant where we won't "bother" the other guests, we never get asked for dessert, we get poor service (I assume they think we don't have extra money for dessert or a nice tip if we have two kids), the wait staff avoids our table as much as possible causing my glass to be empty (one of my pet peeves). In stores the associates eyeball us the whole time, watching to see if one of the boys will knock something off the shelf or put fingerprints on the display cases. Having never been a waitress I guess I can't speak on that but as far as retail stores go I've worked in those for 10 years. People with kids buy stuff...LOTS OF STUFF.

I know a lot of kids are so hard to handle but it's the same with anything else. There are people who act right and people who don't. There are kids who act right and kids who don't. It seems like people assume the kids are bad the minute they walk in. NO CHANCE to show how well behaved they can be. My boys are good...so good! It isn't right and it isn't fair.