But some restaurants and hotels are beginning to notice the edginess in parents, and have created hours when they can come with their kids to eat and let loose their brats, who can behave as badly as they want to. And the best part of all this is that the parents don't have to chew their nails off or go red in the face with their rowdy behaviour.

So, when my son and two of his friends did just that at the Pizza, Pizza Express last Sunday, I just turned a blind eye and enjoyed my meal. Every Sunday between 12 noon and 4 pm, this restaurant allows kids to be kids. The noiseand chaos be damned. They have some activities going on in the restaurant which keep the kids entertained: face painting, magic shows, painting contest, clowns moving around. (Usually they restrict the activities to two per Sunday.) But what they don't have is a separate kids' menu/meal, though the staff assures me that they can make some different combos tailored to suit the kids' tastes.

My son and his friends got themselves painted like tigers and then spent the afternoon crawling all over the restaurant growling at the guests at other tables. At one point, the two of them even waited near the entrance and every new group of people that came in were spiritedly chased by the growling tigers. One boy was petrified by the war-paint on their faces and almost burst into tears when he was growled at by the trio. Taking this to be a signal for their fun time to begin, the two painted tigers growled their hearts content and got their money's worth. But the boy smartened up after a few growls and returned thefavour, and they had to wander off to another prospective customer. The kids generally had a whale of a time crawling under tables, under the staircase and chasing the Charlie pantomime, who was walking around the restaurant.

Another hotel which has caught on to this idea is Delhi's Le Meridien. On Sundays, the hotel too cordons a part of its atrium lobby and creates a space called the `Kids Wonderland.' And for Rs 199 (all inclusive) they undertake to baby-sit your brat between 12 noon and 4 pm. Parents sign in and leave their kids in the care of the hotel staff. The hotel has a large number of staff who are chaperoning kids on Sundays.

For the price you pay, the kids get treated to a kiddy buffet, which is laid out on knee-high tables so that the kids can reach them easily. The bufffet has pizzas, doughnuts, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, cheese puffs, jelly, fruit custard, ice cream and candies. Other entertainment like clowns, magic shows, a painting competition, tattoo-painting, group games and a giftalso add to the fun.

The kids who don't like these activities can watch Cartoon Network on a huge screen or shoot monsters at a game kiosk. The kids' corner at Le Meridien started off two weeks ago. The first week saw just 30 kids but the second week the number had more than doubled. The room was noisy and messy, but who cares, the kids were having fun. And when they leave at four they get a farewell gift too.

The difference in both these deals is that on other days they do not cater to this age group unlike a McDonalds or a KFC, whose main customers are kids. But the good news for parents is that some other hotels too are planning to follow suite. So kids can have their fun while parents do some `propha' dining.