kids in public places
The NYT has an interesting article about kids being welcome (or not) in cafes in Chicago.
The owner of A Taste of Heaven, Dan McCauley, said he posted the sign - at child level, with playful handprints - in the hope of quieting his tin-ceilinged cafe, where toddlers have been known to sprawl between tables and hurl themselves at display cases for sport.
But many neighborhood mothers took umbrage at the implied criticism of how they handle their children. Soon, whispers of a boycott passed among the playgroups in this North Side neighborhood, once an outpost of avant-garde artists and hip gay couples but now a hot real estate market for young professional families shunning the suburbs.
"I love people who don't have children who tell you how to parent," said Alison Miller, 35, a psychologist, corporate coach and mother of two. "I'd love for him to be responsible for three children for the next year and see if he can control the volume of their voices every minute of the day."
You can use bugmenot.com to login as usual to read it. I'd be interested in the perspectives of parents (and non-parents); are there places you feel unwelcome (or welcome) bringng your kid(s)? Do you feel there's any reasonable way to police outrageous badly-behaved kid/parent behavior without making all parents/kids feel unwelcome?
The owner of A Taste of Heaven, Dan McCauley, said he posted the sign - at child level, with playful handprints - in the hope of quieting his tin-ceilinged cafe, where toddlers have been known to sprawl between tables and hurl themselves at display cases for sport.
But many neighborhood mothers took umbrage at the implied criticism of how they handle their children. Soon, whispers of a boycott passed among the playgroups in this North Side neighborhood, once an outpost of avant-garde artists and hip gay couples but now a hot real estate market for young professional families shunning the suburbs.
"I love people who don't have children who tell you how to parent," said Alison Miller, 35, a psychologist, corporate coach and mother of two. "I'd love for him to be responsible for three children for the next year and see if he can control the volume of their voices every minute of the day."
You can use bugmenot.com to login as usual to read it. I'd be interested in the perspectives of parents (and non-parents); are there places you feel unwelcome (or welcome) bringng your kid(s)? Do you feel there's any reasonable way to police outrageous badly-behaved kid/parent behavior without making all parents/kids feel unwelcome?