A family-friendly Belconnen café has shut its doors after seven months in business to rethink its structure because of “horrible” behaviour from kids and their parents in and around the café’s playroom.
Heather’s House of Cake set out to provide an environment that would appeal to parents with babies and young children, but not all families respected the space.
“We have had some horrible things left for us and done to our property that isn’t acceptable, hence why our current setup and policy is under review,” Heather Martin writes on the café’s Facebook page.
Martin includes a link to a story about a Sydney café that closed its playroom last week with her post announcing the closure, saying their story was “all too familiar”.
“We find ourselves being forced into the same agonizing situation of making the decision to close the play area within our café,” she writes.
“We love all our customers, young and old, and as a mum/step mum to 8 kids I have always wanted to create a space where everyone can find a “happy place” to treat themselves and their loved ones.
“We have had many disgusting instances and have currently closed the café while we weigh up the options on how to progress from here.”
Sydney’s Black Mocha Café no longer offers a kids playroom. According to their Facebook page the café had been subjected to children ripping books, breaking toys, drawing on the walls, chewing and tearing open sugar packets and emptying them onto the floor, tables, chairs and carpet as well as grinding food into the carpet, books, walls and toys.
Kids had used furniture as trampolines and kicked fixtures and fittings.
Parents had allowed and even encouraged children to run and screech unsupervised around the cafe jumping on the furniture, screaming.
Children had knocked over hot tea and coffee, washed their hands in other patrons’ water glasses and taken food off other patrons’ plates.
Parents had brought in takeaway food and used the café’s cushions as plates.
They had changed nappies on lounges, table tops and the carpet in the kids playroom and placed dirty nappies on top of dining tables or simply left them behind in the playroom.
“This behaviour is upsetting the rest of the customers and staff. It is also a disgusting spectacle and we are sorry that innocent café patrons have to witness it,” the post reads.
“As a result the café will no longer welcome children and parents who display deplorable manners. We feel that it’s the parents’ responsibility to keep their children reasonably quiet and well-behaved during their visit to the café. But when parents can’t be bothered to do this, there comes a point when the café has to act in the best interest of its patrons as a whole.”
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