On Thu 20 Jan 2005 01:16:13a, Denise~* tittered and giggled, and giggled
and tittered, and finally blurted out...

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
>>>I'm very happy that my "monkey" is typically entertainment for everbody
>>>during my shopping experiences with him. Just today I got a
>>>compliment from an older lady about how cute he was & how much she was
>>>enjoying him. Whats even funnier, is he gets more silly & giddy when
>>>he hasn't had a nap & he didn't today until the drive home at 4:30pm.
>>>I would go nuts if I had children like the ones I have seen in other
>>>families at stores & bless my lucky stars that as of yet, at 2.5 years
>>>of age he hasn't had a tantrum in a public place. (knock on wood)
>>
>> I feel the same way about may cats, but I wouldn't inflict them on the
>> general public in a store.
>>
>> Wayne
>
> Well... that's just a silly statement.

No sillier than your assuming your child is "entertainment" for everybody
in public. Not everyone wants to be entertained by someone elses kids.
I'd rather pay for my entertainment and choose its venue. Silly and giddy,
possibly loud and boisterous, underfoot and in the way, are not
characteristics that I find appealing when I'm trying to shop or eat in a
rewtaurant. AFAIC, it's an unpleasant distraction.

> How do you expect children to learn how to learn & act in social
> situations? I'll admit that my child may **** somebody off someday, but
> I would certainly do something about it when it happens, like an apology
> from me and also hopefully my child will apologise when asked to (if he
> has gotten to that level of understanding & verbal ability)
>
> Going out in public and having a parent who is a good mentor is the only
> way a child can learn what is socially acceptable norms of behavior.

You are absolutely correct. When a parent IS a good mentor, then a child
should certainly be with them in public. All too often, however, parents
act as though their child isn't even there and exert absolutely no
authority over them in controlling their behaviour. What really ****es me
off are the parents that think their child's misbehavior is "cute". It
clearly is not. Just last week I encountered a couple in the supermarket
with three children who were probably under the age of five. They were
near the end of an aisle I was trying to exit, noisily running back and
forth, rolling around on the floor, and blocking the aisle. I had to turn
around and traverse the entire aisle to get away from them. There is no
excuse for such behavior.

When I see well-behaved children, I make it a point to comment on this to
the parent. Unfortunately, this is all too seldom.

> Of course, you have always been perfect?

Yes. <G>

Wayne