I’m sharing a post that I wrote when Bean was 1 year old!
I still get a knot in my stomach when I spend too much time thinking about this…however, now that he is a bit over 2 years old, this diligence is even more important, as he sits with us and can reach out at any random moment and connect with sharp utensils and hot liquids.

By this point, we’ve gained enough confidence to share our concern with waitstaff (which we’ve only had to do a few times). Yeah sure, sometimes they are defensive in the moment, but when they take a few seconds and think about it, they are very understanding.
Typically, though when we order anything we have concerns about and/or see questionable utensils coming to our table, we simply cut the server off at the pass and take the item before it even breaches the table’s edge!

Happily, since we typically dine at family-friendly restaurants, most of the staff are aware of ‘child safety’…and our favorite sushi place in Bend, so far, always keeps Miso, etc. away from Bean when they place it on the table. They even deliver such with a little bowl of ice, so that Bean can enjoy himself.
After all, he does like a nice cooled spoonful of soup!

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Here’s the post I wrote for my www.SFONewb.com blog :
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Not surprisingly, I was stunned when the burning hot water from the tea mug drip-dripped onto my leg. As I moved back I was more concerned with hot liquid so close to my baby… my fear was realized as I saw the waiter put the same mug at the corner of the table within easy reach of my baby’s fast hands!

Unfortunately or not, my fear turned to anger quickly… I moved the tea as I looked up at the waiter, who had just finished apologizing and asking if I was OK. I couldn’t contain myself, “I’m fine, but you have really got to be more aware of hot liquids when you have babies at a table! Do not place hot liquids in front of a baby!!”
Our own server was at the ready for our order… I looked at her and reiterated my concern. Having children, herself, she assured me she understood! I took a breathe, looked at my hubs holding our baby and picked up the menu… but I still couldn’t concentrate and instead asked for a minute.

Just when I thought I was “OK” I realized that emotionally my nerves were frayed… my eyes teared up and when I looked at my sweet boy’s face, my eyes welled. I asked my hubs how he felt and he agreed with my actions.

You see, we were at a favorite breakfast place on the Peninsula of the Bay Area… we’d sat at this corner table before and I didn’t like that it was so close to the coffee/tea/hot water station. This morning I figured it was alright, since baby would be in a highchair at the other side of the table. Then we had this occurrence…

In other area restaurants I’ve had to address this concern, I was just helping the waitstaff become aware of serving/delivering hot dishes to a table with a baby sitting at it. After this occurrence, I will, indeed, continue to educate waitstaff on this particular safety issue!
We love going out to eat and we like to be respectful diners. We take it upon ourselves to ‘pick up’ after our baby when we are done eating, we strive to keep baby happy and if he’s fussy will take him for walk… we, also, move utensils and other items out of baby’s reach… there is, now, just one more aspect of eating out that we will be diligent with!

I write and share this blog post in the hopes of providing a bit of awareness to this topic for other parents and for the waitstaff that do not know how quickly kids can move and pull things off a table!

Take Care!

Thankfully, the waitstaff and management were not surprised at my reaction… they were understanding and generous in their offer to pay for our complete breakfast.