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Is Your Establishment Family Friendly?
April 11, 2008

Today, for lunch, I enjoyed Edamame and Pad Thai Tofu at an upscale local Asian Fusion restaurant... well, sort of enjoyed.  I made the mistake of offering to take my niece, 18 months of age, to this prestigious establishment.  It later dawned on me that most businesses in the area were designed with the upper-crust in mind... and not the sort who have young children.

It was no wonder that, day-in and day-out, moms would always tell me what a breath-of-fresh-air our store was.  These moms, formerly accustomed to living prim and proper existences, had been thrust onto the other side once their children could squeal or move.  They had gone from soy chai lattes to soy formula spit-up.  The luxury sports car had been traded-in for a gas-guzzling SUV (although still a luxury model, I assure you.)  Things just aren't the same once you add the unpredictability of small children to the equation.  Many of my very own customers have been through this "change"... this adjustment in social status.

It's not as though they are demoted from the creme de la creme, rather, they are shifted into the sector of middle-aged, well-to-do mothers who have been ousted from the baby-free lifestyle.  Montessori schools and play-dates are now the news du jour.  Often times these moms feel lost in the shuffle.  That's where we come in.  These new moms have come to love and trust our store as a source of knowledge and satisfaction for their maternal needs during pregnancy.  It seems a natural fit that, once the child is in motion, they would return to us for comfort once more.

A variety of these upper-class women come in on an almost-weekly basis to "shop".  While it is true that they do make purchases on these frequent visits (to our benefit, of course) they sometimes seem to come more for the atmosphere than the products.  Ours is a store where a child can scream wildly and mom doesn't have to worry that she and the child are going to be blacklisted.  A nursing mom can joke with an employee or another customer about feeling like a milk-cow without feeling as though she's being vulgar or misunderstood.  It's high-end but laid back.  Our store gives mom a chance to breathe.

I know that I can take my 9-year old to a fine establishment and she is likely to behave like an angel (90% of the time, at least).  It takes a long time, though, for a child to reach that level of maturity, a level accepted by other adults.  It also takes some children quite a bit longer than others.  I believe that up-bringing has a great deal to do with how a child behaves but from time to time, every child is going to act their age.  It's nice that there are places where classy adults can gather without the screams of children.  It's nicer still, though, that there are places where classy adults can let down their guard and just let their child be a child.

Posted by Kelly Nelson on April 11, 2008 | Comments (0)