After a long day spent educating little kids, sometimes teachers want nothing more than to head to a local watering hole and throw back a couple of cold ones. But, what’s a teacher to do when her favorite beer garden is overrun with yet more little kids? Complain until they ban those brats, of course.
As the NY Daily News reports, a family-friendly beer garden in Brooklyn recently instituted a 4:00 p.m. curfew for tots, inciting a backlash from parents.
Located close to four large schools, it’s been a popular hangout for both parents and educators alike. But, adults, including some teachers, have complained about the presence of kids in a drinking establishment, prompting the curfew.
Some moms argue that it’s not the kids, but their parents, that teachers don’t want to encounter when they’re out relaxing after class.
“They don’t want us to see them drink,” Yuna Weiss, a 44-year-old mother of four, told the NY Daily News. “Some of them get very sloppy.”
The Greenwood Park beer garden has lots of indoor and outdoor space, picnic gardens and even a bocce ball court. Until recently, parents found it to be the perfect place to park a stroller and sip a beer.
However, there have been debates about the presence of kids at the bar amongst the over-21 crowd since it opened. People complained about naughty tots and worried that it was generally uncomfortable to be sipping suds with infants nearby.
Some parents argue that 4:00 p.m. is too early and that even a 6:00 p.m. cut-off would be more reasonable. After all, it’s parents who really need to cut loose and relax. As Greenwood Park patron and toddler mother, Alex Philips, 36, told the NY Daily News, “I’m looking at these 21-year-olds. Wait until you have kids and want a drink.”
The bar’s owner has said they’re doing their best to accommodate everyone and notes that the kids’ curfew may change in the future.
Do you think parents should take their kids to a more child-friendly spot or should teachers relax and share their space?
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Dana Macario is a Seattle-area mom who meets her friends and neighbors in a beer garden called the front yard.