Family friendly?

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:51 am

A lot of places for a long time advertised as family friendly. It seemes that trend is reversing a little.

What steps do yuo think should be required for a business to take to be accessible for familys? Does family friendly equal more money?

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:10 am

I would say it costs more for kid friendly, usually because they have seperate child sized dishes and glasses, as well as things to help occupy the brats.

mrmooky · Post by **mrmooky** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 3:39 am

I imagine that the profitability of family-friendliness depends on the type of business. A burger joint can expect a fair proportion of its clientele to be children, so it has greater ability to profit, and therefore more incentive, to be family-friendly than, say, a fancy restaurant.

Are we only talking about the food industry here, or something more widespread?

lorg · Post by **lorg** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:29 am

A lot of places for a long time advertised as family friendly. It seemes that trend is reversing a little.

Probably cause there is more profit in (non sexual) "Adult Fun". They have money to spend since they don't have to pay for all them things that kids needs etc.

crone · Post by **crone** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:06 pm

We spend more money on our kids than on us, especially as far as entertainment goes.

We used to go to a place near us that had toys, and a little cleared area, once or twice a week. When it changed hands, the new owner put 2 tables in that space, and we stopped going there. The two extra tables netted him more than our custom did, I'm sure.

OTOH, the indoor play place, that serves coffee and cake, does a huge business.

There is a market for family places, and a market for adult-focussed places. A lot of adults don't like having kids around. Our Western cultures are not very kid-friendly, generally. So there seemd to be a need for that kind of establishment, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Now maybe it is settling down a little.

Fanily friendly places should have kids menus, or kid friendly menus, gimmick to entertain kids (my favourite restaurant as a kid had a huge barrel of unshelled peanuts you could help yourself to), tables not packed too close, and a tolerant atmosphere.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:56 am

My wife and I quite often have no choice in whether we have to take our children with us. Its not that we want to, we simplely have no choice.

Whether it be the supermarket, to the gym or a dining establishment. Quite often we're met with resentment not only from the staff, but other customers. It's quite often annoying to be treated like we're second class cutomers, when in all likelyhood we spend as much if not more than every other customer in our immediate vicinty.( I know we often tip upwards of thirty percent...)

I've had people make rude comments about my children even when they have been on their best behavior, which actually is quite often. we even make a point of not staying if they are being excessively loud and/or "bad".

My local gym has started to come down on people having their kids there, and I'm just sort of frustrated. Its hard not to take the kids with me.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:16 am

Did you think it would be this hard when you decided to have children, Paul?

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:04 pm

Yes and no. In some ways I expected people at restraraunts to be unforgiving, having seen that sort of behavior from people before when I didn't have kids. (I should note it isn't really something I have shared, I tend to be very forgiving of children.)

But no I wasn't prepared, are we ever really prepared?:)

Gunny · Post by **Gunny** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 2:34 pm

My local gym has started to come down on people having their kids there

Now that's just retarded. The most common thing people look for when they scout for a gym, is a playroom (or something) for their kids.

lorg · Post by **lorg** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:12 pm

Gunny wrote:Now that's just retarded. The most common thing people look for when they scout for a gym, is a playroom (or something) for their kids.

Really? I thought it was hot babes in spandex ...

crone · Post by **crone** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:19 pm

A lot of people seem to have made up their minds that kids will make trouble, and it doesn't mattter if your kid is behaving or not, they will still want them gone. It's a kind of prejudice.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Sat Jan 29, 2005 12:37 am

I don't mind well behaved kids too much, but sometimes they get rambunctious no matter what the parents do. Some are courteous and leave, many aren't. Then there's the parents who don't control their brats at all. I stopped going to some places where I liked the food because of their emphasis on family friendly due to the number of kids running around.

So in the end people do have a prejudice about people bringing their kids. Namely single people like me or partners who don't have kids, or even parents who want a night off from the kids.

I think it all boils down to people not training their kids right, or being respectful of those around them. And I guess the folks I mentioned above have more to spend than people who want to go out with their kids or something.

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 12:34 am

Gunny wrote:
My local gym has started to come down on people having their kids there
Now that's just retarded. The most common thing people look for when they scout for a gym, is a playroom (or something) for their kids.

Yes, and not all gyms have playrooms or daycare.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 2:19 am

Gunny wrote:
My local gym has started to come down on people having their kids there
Now that's just retarded. The most common thing people look for when they scout for a gym, is a playroom (or something) for their kids.

And our gym has a playroom. When Paul says they're coming down on people having their kids there, what he really means is that they have asked him not to have his kids there /without supervision,/ which has been a rule since day one. Early on, they didn't enforce it, but there were several times when his kids left the playroom, and for legal and financial reasons, they simply cannot allow that, not only for Paul's kids, but for all the other people who might bring children in unsupervised.

Liniah · Post by **Liniah** » Sun Jan 30, 2005 2:39 am

3278 wrote:
Gunny wrote:
My local gym has started to come down on people having their kids there
Now that's just retarded. The most common thing people look for when they scout for a gym, is a playroom (or something) for their kids.
And our gym has a playroom. When Paul says they're coming down on people having their kids there, what he really means is that they have asked him not to have his kids there /without supervision,/ which has been a rule since day one. Early on, they didn't enforce it, but there were several times when his kids left the playroom, and for legal and financial reasons, they simply cannot allow that, not only for Paul's kids, but for all the other people who might bring children in unsupervised.

If you're gym is coming down on you for you letting your kids go play unsupervised when that is against their policy, that's totally understandable. Have you considered going to a gym that offers childcare? When I worked at the Y, we provided free child care to adults who went to the gym or any classes. (However, we would not tolerate them dropping their kids off at the play area and then going to the gym. The kids had to be signed in at the babysitting room.) Do you leave your kids unattended?

lorg · Post by **lorg** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:11 pm

Why can't the kids just be pumping iron with big daddy? They could be the buffest kids in kindergarten or whatever they attend

Crazy Elf · Post by **Crazy Elf** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:40 pm

I agree with lorg.

Anguirel · Post by **Anguirel** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:49 pm

And think, when the ninja come to slay your heirs, they could just chop those ninja in half. Don't forget the benefit of being able to headbutt all the goth kids later.

WillyGilligan · Post by **WillyGilligan** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 5:56 pm

lorg wrote:They could be the buffest kids in kindergarten or whatever they attend

You mean like him?

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 8:38 pm

I went with some people to a nice brunch last sunday, to a place that isn't "family friendly", it's beyond freaking expensive and snooty. Here we were sitting there enjoying the brunch and on the other side of the room was a younger couple (30ish) with two little girls, the parents didn't care that the little girls were walking around the place, knocking these from various tables, and eating (with their fingers) from a cart.

I'm so glad that Viennese hate children, it makes life easier, parents leave their maggots at home.

Sure SOME children are wonderful, but most suck donky snot.