Plenty o’ mail fills the ‘Bag over our post on upscale parents who get All Huffy when someone dares suggest that their kids should pipe down and show good manners in restaurants and other public places (see “The Newest ‘Right”: For Your Kids to Misbehave in Public,” Nov. 25).
From Carol:
“I am a preschool teacher and I…applaud at those merchants/restaurateurs who want to ‘take back’ their autonomy and ownership and consideration for the majority of their customers.
‘Even though our child is all grown up and it would in many ways be easier to go out to eat, we avoid it like the plague because of the noisy, raucous kids with seemingly oblivious parents. It seems that our own home is the only haven we have these days against the assault resulting from poor parenting, familial egocentrism and overall lack of consideration.
“Earlier this afternoon I was in a large retail store when a gentleman and I seemed to get in each other’s way. We both said ‘excuse me’–he then went on to thank me for being polite saying that I was the only who’d displayed manners since he walked in. ‘Ditto,’ I said.
From Bobbie:
“This child behavior thing is out of control… Parents are either afraid of losing their children to Social Services for disciplining or their just too damned lazy to care how they act.
“All in all, the parents should be repremanded for their childs behavior because they are the ones responsible for it. If I owned my own business, I too would post a sign: “No child is to be left UNATTENDED! Please control your children!” Parents should know better. The reason they get angry is they are either embarrassed or ashamed they can’t handle their kids…Parents need to take the reins and let kids know who the parent is and what it means!!”
From L.T.:
“I was at the airport waiting for my flight and eating a quick lunch. A woman was sitting a few seats away from me with a small girl and a boy about 4. He slid over to me and started eating my fries. Then he tried to take my sandwich and grabbed my soda and wouldn’t let go. I didn’t want to hurt him, but couldn’t pull the soda away, and a man across the aisle had to help me. Then the kid HIT me. I told the woman, “Your son is trying to eat my sandwich and he just hit me.”
“She didn’t even turn her head but said, ‘That’s what you get for giving him attention.’
“Nice, eh? So I’m the wrong one for not controlling her child.”
Meanwhile, I’m hoping for an e-mail in which someone–please!–explains to me why it stifles children’s creativity to set rules for them when they’re out with other people.