Mom of 5 rants about noisy kids in restaurants and people have thoughts

“Can you hear that? It’s a table of children across from us arguing,” mom of 5 Kelsey Davis said, as she filmed herself on a date at a romantic and expensive restaurant with her husband. “And one of them has their tablet on volume 97.” She shared this video on TikTok, and people have some…thoughts. 

Davis’ video of herself trying to enjoy a romantic evening out with her husband at Nola’s Creole & Cocktails in Tulsa went viral, sparking the debate about children in public places. In an interview with TODAY.com,  Davis said that she had been “so excited” to get to try this restaurant out with her husband, after she had spent literal years “drooling over the menu.” But she just couldn’t relax and enjoy anything with the table of children screaming, arguing, and being generally obnoxious in her direct vicinity. Davis says the children’s ages ranged from 9 to 12.

“The food was amazing, but it was such a stressful experience because of that one awful family,” Davis explained in her interview with TODAY.com. “They were loud and obnoxious, and had absolutely no regard for other diners. The kids, they weren’t toddlers by the way, were yelling and whooping and hollering and the parents were completely ignoring them,” she said. 

Is there a time and place for kids to be, well, kids? Davis thinks that it’s definitely not at an upscale restaurant. In her video, she said, “This wasn’t McDonald’s. It was a nice Cajun restaurant. People need to teach their kids how to act in public.”

She continued her argument in the car on the way home from her meal.

“Some married people pay to get rid of their kids for the evening to go have a nice dinner, and I had to watch Toy Story on a tablet because these parents couldn’t pay attention to these kids,” she slurred. “Our meal was $140 for the both of us,” she continued. “And we had to listen to screaming a– kids bitching at each other and their tablets. People. Leave your kids at home,” she said. 

“Get a babysitter, Don’t take them. Don’t go. I feel exhausted from that date night, so thank you for that,” she concluded in her rant before gushing about the food at the restaurant in her video. 

The comments were actually pretty supportive, with one commenter saying, “There is a time and a place for a child to be loud and disruptive. A nice restaurant is not one of them. I’d be pissed too.” And many others agreed with her that a nice restaurant isn’t a place for children, and there’s a time and a place for kids to be kids.  

However, some people were pro kids at expensive restaurants. 

“Don’t go in public then? Your expectations for a public place are set too high. Kids will be kids, and other moms are trying to enjoy a meal too,” one parent said. And another commented that kids deserve to exist and be there, too. 

In solidarity with the “children-being-allowed-to-exist” comment, a parent said, “Not everyone has childcare. Kids have a right to be anywhere you do. Some may say you’re annoying for recording yourself at dinner. BE KIND.”