When I was a waitress and I saw a group with prams turn up, I must admit, it made me turn a little peaky.

It meant noise, mess and lots of demands!

The parents were usually too busy trying to occupy their little ones to look at the menu. Colouring books were being torn apart and at the end of the meal. And undoubtedly an impatient couple rushing to the table that had been left; usually a warzone of colouring pencils and crusts, yoghurt and wet wipes stuffed into coffee cups.

It was with a deep breath that you tidy up and the process starts all over again.

I’m not a waitress anymore, but rather I’m on the other side. I am the carrier of the wet wipes and have a child who bangs their cutlery far too loudly in nice eating establishments. At least I was until the lockdown in Wales came back in and I slunk back to my own kitchen for yoghurt laden lunches.

So what did I want to write about?

Well, I’ve always loved cafes, both as places of work and places of leisure. I love the smells, the noise, the variety and ultimately, having my lunch handed to me. Taking your dearest little one out with you has turned this a little on its head. And as Charlotte gets bigger and a little more impatient, I’m starting to lose my former confidence with the whole affair. I also, want to try and be a ‘good customer’.

I’m sure there’s some sort of waitress karma. You never know who’s serving you and they have a bloody hard job sometimes. Shifts are long, the pay isn’t always great, and putting on a smile when people are ruder than you can ever imagine is tough when you then have a 4-hour cleanup ahead of you with back-breaking mopping.

I’m sure there are a million tips that people share as to how to improve the eating out experience for you and your little one.

But how about how to make it a little bit easier for your waiting staff? In my attempt to give a little back, here is my advice to fellow parents from one former waitress

1. Don’t shove wet wipes into things they shouldn’t be shoved into. They are removed one way and one way only. By us pulling them out with our hands, we in turn get covered in Petit Filous. Just leave them on the table and we will happily wipe them away.
2. If you have one, an old muslin on the floor to catch crumbs is amazing. I had this a few times from parents and was more than happy to take it away for them and shake all the crumbs and return. It saved a load of sweeping up time for the next table sitting.
3. Use manners and even better, having your children use manners and order their own food (I know, adventurous) but it is great. It’s the best feeling hearing children order their food and say ‘Please may I have…’. I think it teaches more than you will ever know.
4. Check the menu before you come if you can. It stresses you out reading the menu when all you want to do is make sure you’re little one is happy. Waitresses come and you’re not ready to order so they move onto the next table, coming back to you when they can and then you feel like you’ve delayed the whole thing. So go in prepared, it helps everyone.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask about your children’s food coming first. This is something I learnt to check and a lot of parents were super keen on this. It was more important that their children had their ham sandwich before they went hysterically hungry than them all eating together like The Waltons.
6. Relax about the noise. Usually cafe’s are pretty busy. Waiting staff don’t mind the banging if it keeps your baby happy. Other customers may scowl but just ignore it.

Overall, I think my advice to you and now to myself, is just to enjoy it.

I get riddled with anxious thoughts of whether Charlotte will scream the cafe down, sending diners running out the door and bereft cafe owners marking me with a big ‘banned from this establishment sign’.

But they won’t.

Believe me, I could tell some tales of the families that have eaten and do you know what? I’ve learnt not to judge. That day was maybe their first trip out that year, their little one may not be OK in busy environments, you may (oh my gosh) have run out of wet wipes. But it’s OK. Eating together and eating out is great. And hopefully, if you follow my tips, it makes for happy waiting staff too.

Thank you so much for reading. If you’ve enjoyed it and are also keen to learn a little more about my life post waitressing, check out my 2021 Goals or My first 5 months of weaning my daughter.