If you can afford a nice restaurant, you can afford a baby sitter. Quiet, stimulus-free environments are not appropriate for a young child's developmental level, it is not fair to the other guests, and honestly, it's just not fun for the children. If it is a *family* outing, why wouldn't you choose a venue more child-friendly where you don't have to be on their case the entire time or sitting in the parking lot? I'm not saying it has to be Chucky Cheese, but any of the loud chain restaurants would have been a better choice (and drowned the screaming kids out).

I agree with the argument, "how will children learn otherwise?" but a four-star restaurant is not the appropriate place for table manner lessons for a five-year-old. Ten, twelve, or when the child has demonstrated the ability to sit quietly for a sustained period of time would be the appropriate time to take him to such a place. Anyway, I wouldn't let it ruin my dinner...get up and move, ask to be seated in the "non-children" section, or offer to get crayons for the kids at the hostess stand and then come back and sweetly say, "oh, I'm sorry--they don't have any. But the Chili's down the street has some." (Personally I find my teacher look stops them dead in their tracks--kids and parents both) It seems there will always be people with more money than sense...