Would you take your child to a pub?

In this case, I introduced both of mine to the pub scene at a very young age- S who was all of 19 months, and the second, still in mummy’s tummy!
I had made this big plan which involved the hubby and the maid babysitting S at home while I enjoyed a night out with a friend who was going to her hometown for her delivery. It was a baby shower cum farewell party for this friend, so we were to start out at a restaurant around 7:30, have the baby shower games there and then move to a happening bar/pub so my friend could enjoy her last few night outs (for some time at least).
Anyway nothing worked as per plan. The maid was very unwell so was packed off home. The hubby had a sudden ad shoot which came up the day before the party and took up his entire weekend, and hence I was left literally holding the baby! I had anyway planned to take S for the dinner since some other kids her age were also going to be there. I was a bit unsure whether I would be able to manage her on my own, what with me being 4 months pregnant and S being quite a handful in restaurants, but luckily another friend of mine had come over to spend the day and S became quite friendly with her, so the friend was able to help out quite a bit in the restaurant- taking S to see fish, entertaining her while I gulped down my dinner and so on. The other kids had both their parents around, who were taking turns eating and entertaining the kids- and also entertaining the kids so that they would eat- seeing this behaviour (quite normal to parents but I guess strange to non parents) my friend who is not a mother commented that looks like parents can never sit down and enjoy a 3 course meal in one go. Ha ha ha. We cannot finish even a one course meal in one go if the kid is with us is what I informed her. I think she’s going to be thinking hard about when she wants to have a baby.
After dinner we all set out to this happening bar-Zenzi. One of the couples with a kid opted out, so there were two of us with kids and two of us pregnant women trooping into Zenzi. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they allow children into the bar (we had gone to the USA for a holiday in May this year and the bars/pubs were very fussy about not allowing children) so we parked ourselves comfortably on a couple of sofas and felt very happy that we were these “happening” moms. Of course other people in the bar did not share this view. Just seated opposite us were a group of 4 guys who looked quite annoyed at first to see kids there, and later plain disgusted (possibly due to my removing a series of toys for S and the other kid to play with, and the other kid running all around our table with the toys. The group of guys quickly gulped down their drinks and left. I think that the “pseudo” value of that bar would have halved that particular night, and many single people, who probably don’t appreciate the need for old married with children couples also to enjoy a night out, would probably be thinking of not visiting that place again.
But I sometimes wonder, if I did the right thing in taking S along. Its not exactly a great atmosphere for her- there was no one smoking near us, but a couple of tables away there were quite a few puffing away, the place was dimly lit and tables were next to each other so hardly any place to run around and hardly the ambience for a child; also I think other people were uncomfortable having children around as it took away from the bar atmosphere (and we did get lots of dirty looks). But I didn’t have much of a choice- since there was no one to look after her at home either it meant I took S along, or else I didn’t get to go either. The funniest was a message I got from the hubby when I told him that I was at Zenzi- he asked whether I had taken S along- what did he expect, that I would leave her alone at home!!!
Anyway next week is the bachelor party for one of the girlfriends who is getting married. Its more of just a get together than a bachelors party since the prospective groom is also invited. Its at Hard Rock Café and wondering whether to take S along, or get the hubby to babysit at home. This time my mom is also at home, so even if the hubby has a last minute engagement, I still have the option of leaving S at home. In our recent visit to Bangalore we had taken S with us to the Hard Rock Café there-and we were quite surprised to find that its actually quite a kid friendly place-there were quite a few families with kids of S age, and one waiter was actually entertaining a couple of them with a balloon! I guess one of the considerations for not taking S along this time would be that my bachelor friend might find her “bachelor” party getting overrun into a kids party and may not appreciate it too much!