Don’t look now, but some restaurants seem to be cutting back on that staple of the family dining experience: crayons and paper for kids. NPR’s Planet Money blog reports that the Red Robin chain has gone from four crayons per customer to two. How long before they drop them completely, forcing parents to — gasp — hold conversations with their children instead of letting them color images of popular menu items while mom and dad knock down their pre-meal cocktails.

According to Planet Money:

My youngest daughter, who these days is sometimes a kid and sometimes an adult when it comes to menus, got a kid’s menu. You know, with word puzzles, tic-tac-toe layouts, mazes, and figures to color in. It used to come with a pack of 4 crayons — red, blue, yellow and green. Yesterday it had a pack of two — red and blue.

We don’t know if this is a trend, or just cost-cutting by one chain. Either way, we think Red Robin would be better off dropping its costumed mascot, who, according to the poster on Planet Money, “scares the bejesus out of the little kids.”

‘Sign Of The Times’: Fewer Crayons [Planet Money Blog : NPR]

(Photo: frankieleon)

[Editor’s Note: Marc is a parent and was 100% kidding. Please don’t take him seriously. As you know, taking things seriously is not allowed at Consumerist HQ. Thank you. -Meg]

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