You and your wacky selfless regard for the wellbeing of waitpersons everywhere. You should be their patron saint. "Damn, I forgot to wear my medal of ncs today. My tips are going to suck!"

Can you please show me where in my original post I said "and then I leave the crayons on the floor for some pathetic minimum wage asshole to pick up, but only after leaving my usual 4% tip and being sure to strew breakfast cereal around"?

Indeed. I even try to frequent public places with her at times when you are likely not to be there. Let's be honest...the grocery store at 2:30 on a Tuesday afternoon is full of stay at home moms and their offspring. We won't bother you on Sunday and you shouldn't expect child-free Tuesdays.

And I won't be eating dinner out with her at 8:00. We tend to hit the Early Bird, where the senior citizens think she's "precious" or "little as a minute". And where they drop as much food on the floor as she does....

You didn't say you picked them up. Lack of full explanations is why but one of the reason childless people loathe, despise and pity the childed.

Defensive much?

I generally tip a solid twenty percent whenever the Gaplets dine with me. It assuages the guilt.

The anxiety of keeping the boys behaved during a dinner on the town is sometimes such that I'm almost reduced to saving all of us the trouble, slowing down to 25mph and simply flinging some cash out the window as we pass by.

All kids stage tantrums sometimes, even the well-behaved ones. Even with the best parents, they have to give it a try to see if it works. And sometimes their fragile little systems just can't handle shit anymore. There are times when this happens and you can't just remove the kids from the scene because it will only encourage them. So, get over yourself.

Not to ruin your assiduous assuaging, but I generally tip a solid 20%, including tax in the amount on which I'm computing the tip, and rounding up to the nearest dollar or 50 c, depending on how big the bill is. And I never have kids with me, and I order off the menu without changes as a general rule.

Edited to make it clear I was arguing not with gatti's hilarious self-deprecation, but with his self-back-patting w/r/t amount of tip.

Spraypaint back out of the trunk.

If you are trying out a brand-new situation on the kid, I would think you could have an exit strategy in place in the event you find you overestimated their tolerance. If you are at a place so long (unexpectedly, or whatever) that their systems can't take it, they are legitimately freaking out and leaving is the right thing for everyone. I never signed up to be part of your disciplinary training, but I guess you have signed up for people to tell your children who are freaking out in public that they are ill-behaved brats who should be left at home with a mean sitter. I mean, you are keeping them in the public place to show them the consequences of their actions, right? Including mean strangers.

Have y'all been fixed yet?

Boy, you can't even let a self-deprecating joke fly by without complaining about the details, can you?

I believe it was implied.*



*seriously, bnb, you usually get me. can't a person go on a sebbyesque rant every once in a while? particularly a person whose avatar in a chain restaurant employee? well can't she?

You let me know how intact your sense of humor is after a humorless day spent with a person who is merely 30 inches tall and clearly the boss of you.

Nonetheless, after the restorative effects of a martini or three, I seem to have regained mine.

My apologies to all those to whom I became strident. Which really means my apologies to Fringey and ncs. I will refrain from taking anything personally again until I've had the opportunity to view it through a veil of vodka.

Billy Barty
 

So stop dating midgets.

Physician, heal thyself.

One of the lesser joys of parenthood is having total strangers tell you how to raise your kids. It's especially fun coming from people who don't have kids.

Given that you work at least full-time, and have (at least as far as said on this board) one quite young child, I would not be so sure that you have spent as much time taking care of children as I have. Also, you have experienced but one child, and since you are still in the process of raising it, can't see the results of your decisions. But hey, if my genetic material isn't in the kid, I couldn't possibly know anything and am not equipped to make any comments. I tend to think though that you are blinded by your adoration for your particular child (which is quite handy, from an evolutionary perspective) to fathom that not everyone is willing and eager to make sacrifices for your kid.

Which makes me confused as to how any of us do anything, since we as a profession are all outsiders brought in to solve problems and resolve issues not of our making.

You should never have admitted your kid has tantrums in public places to which you have brought it, and that you really think that total strangers should be more than happy to put up with it. What kind of answer did you think you would get? Sheesh.

I guess they're just little black boxes until they get into Harvard, right? You're the parenting expert -- you would know.

If you're going to change gears and start posting as Ms. No Kids But Still Knows Her Shit, fine, but I was responding to Ms. I Don't Want To See Children Who Rain On My Parade When I'm In A Public Place.

Is it that I'm a guy, and must therefore not be in touch with my child, or have I said anything in particular that might lead you to think that I can't "fathom" the depths of the despair into which I submerge your ilk when my kid misbehaves in public?

Nice word, "sacrifices," given that what you are asking is that those of us with children stay away from public places where you might be.

Admit? Hell, every child I know has had a tantrum in public places. If your parents sedated you, that's between you and them. Did I say strangers should love it? No. News flash: I'm not loving it either at that point in time. I was just suggesting you should grow up.