Dear parents, we’re sorry to say it, but restaurants hate it when you make this request

Parents, we totally get it: Getting your kids to leave the house and eat at a restaurant is huge ordeal. And we also know that kids can be the pickiest eaters ever. However, if you’re thinking of asking for something that’s not on the kids’ menu, don’t.

According to a report from PureWow, restaurants hate it when you ask the kitchen to “whip something up” that fits your child’s tastes instead of ordering off the kids’ menu. It’s not only a hassle for the restaurant’s staff, especially if they’re super busy, but it would also sets an unwanted precedent, i.e. if they do it for your kid then they’ll have to do for ALL the kids, which especially sucks if they’re not even a kid-friendly restaurant. It’s just not cool.

Whether you’ve worked in the restaurant industry or not, you should know the struggle is real AF when it comes to satisfying customers, and ordering something that’s not on the kids’ menu is just the beginning.

Lingering at your table way past closing time, expecting something free if it’s your “birthday,” asking why you have to wait when you see a bunch of empty tables (hint: it’s called reservations), or asking to move tables more than once because you aren’t 100% comfortable with the A.C. are all on restaurant servers’ lists of no-nos.

So if you want to dine out with your kids, your best bet would be to choose a kid-friendly restaurant, or at least one that has a kids’ menu that has been approved by your own children’s tastebuds.

If you still opt for the fancy restaurant — the one without a kids’ menu — then maybe you’ll want to consider sharing some of your dish with the kiddos. Who knows? They might actually fall in love with Brussels sprouts, and then everyone’s life will get a bit easier.