Posted on 08/15/2006 6:24:16 AM PDT by steve-b
For Cindy Nooney's 3-year-old twin boys, playing with the Thomas the Train set at their local bookstore in Southern California is a major thrill. Jack and Sam push Thomas, Arthur and friends down the track, they run around the table, jump up and down — and, of course, they squeeeaal.
Nooney expects as much in the children's section of the store. But on a recent afternoon, she was surprised by an employee who confronted her, calling her darling Jack a tyrant.
"He was a little loud but this is a children's section," says Nooney. "They run a noisy, cavernous bookstore but they don’t want kids to make any noise? It just seems ridiculous and leads me to believe that they don't want kids, they want silent kids."
The bookstore is not the only place that likes quiet, controlled children — and isn't afraid to say so. Across the nation, there are signs of a low-burning uprising against children supposedly behaving badly in public.
Eateries from California to Massachusetts have posted signs on doors and menus saying "We love children, especially when they are tucked in chairs and well behaved" or "Kids must use indoor voices." In North Carolina an online petition was started last year to establish child-free restaurants — the petition loosely compared dining with children to dining with cigarette smoke....
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
What in the world happened? That was supposed to read: touche.
I go to Sweet Tomatoes buffet restaurant with family and friends a lot. There are always children there doing their thing. Doesn't bother me one darn bit.
Sweet Tomatoes has the best soup and salad and other food as far as I'm concerned
Ah! This is why he is not normal. Any frat boy would tell you that doing something like this is normal behavior. If your son's not doing this....;-)
touch+ALT130 = touché
When our daughter was young we usually flew Southwest and had decent success in flying bulkhead. It helped with caring for our daughter as well as providing space for my husband's 38 inch inseam. :o)
These days we arrive early and hope for the best...for my husband's inseam, not the young child thing.
I've been near moms who are caring for a young child/baby and have offered to help..whether holding an infant so the mom can care for a toddler, or the other way around. My husband has always helped moms on flights.
If we consider each other kindly we can make an enjoyable flight for everyone.
bump for later
I noted in one of my previous posts (#393) that we do try to get the bulkhead. We try to do it when we make the reservation, and we try again at the airport, but they're usually taken. They have more legroom, so they apparently get snatched up really fast.
And bless your heart for trying to help other moms. I do the same, as does my husband. I can either bitch about the kids on the plane, or I can lend a hand, whether with a smile or an offer to dig something out of a carry-on or whatever. Fortunately, if I fly with the kids, I don't fly without another adult, so it could be worse.
At any rate, I think my original point has been somewhat diluted. My kids are actually really good on the plane, my son (4) moreso than my daughter (the baby). We rarely fly, and when we do, we come prepared, and we give them our undivided attention on the plane. We don't read, we don't sleep, we don't watch the in-flight movie.
My only point was that even when vigilant, there are times those little feet get away from you. To be clear, I usually have the people in front of them compliment me because the kids are so well behaved and the kicking is so minimal, but that's because we literally hold their feet nearly the entire flight.
I feel bad that you have been put in a position of feeling so self consious over your child. This would make me feel even more protective. People can have a little patience, just the same they would for a handicapped adult. It is obvious you are trying your best, and especially - so is your boy. Everyone is going to have to deal with it at one time or another. This is real life, there are bigger problems going on than small children getting on each other's nerves.
For everyone else:
Honestly, I haven't seen such horrible behavior out in public as I am hearing about on this thread. Most of the time, I see parents acting more upset about the kids behavior than what the child is actually doing.
testing: touché
Thank you kindly.
Also, as my kids learned, it is amazing how you can get their attention just by grabbing their upper arm and not so gently squeezing while bent over and glaring directly into their eyes. The great thing is, you can speak in a lowered voice, comfortable in the knowledge that you have their complete and undivided attention.
It stopped immediately. LOL.
Xenalyte, I believe this is an excellent example of how you could have stopped it without acting in a way that some (including myself) might perceive as threatening.
These days she reads, watches a movie on the laptop, humors me with conversation, humors young children if they're sitting near us, and gets our bags down for us when we reach our destination..she's taller than me - then again, who isn't? ;o)
Oh, you're kidding. Senga?
I'll add B-Chan to my list, too!
I have filed it for future use should the situation ever arise again.
My daughter is a lifeguard/swim instructor in our city and worked the pool recently for an Autistic Childrens organization. She remarked that the children were precious and enjoyable. Most of the lifeguards believed the same way. :o)
I agree Sasha.
I think one of the reasons people feel so compelled to opine on the subject is that human reproduction is so ubiquitous that just about everybody can reproduce. Because of that, it's one area where even the least gifted among us feel qualified to critique.
I live by the adage, "there but for the grace of God go I," meaning that instead of assuming in my ominipotent wisdom that parents of challenging kids must be doing something wrong, that perhaps they are confronted with a challenge I, too, would be ill-equipped to handle. Conversely, I don't assume that my unimpeachable parenting skills are the reason that I have relatively well-behaved kids.
It keeps me humble as a parent, and as a human being.
I can not stand the way kids are allowed to misbehave in public. I raised 4 children and they knew the consequences for misbehaving in public. If they were infants and cried, I took them to the car for soothing or walked them in restroom. Why should everyone be tortured?
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