, 7 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
...this is far, far too nice.

I have a lot of sympathy for parents in public. I do. But if your attitude is that a four year old is just going to explore a table-service restaurant, here other people have food and drink and knives on their tables, and servers are carrying trays?
My sympathy for parents in public is that they are doing a very hard, thankless job at which it is impossible to have a 100% success rate and for which many people feel qualified to judge you.

But this isn't even trying.
And the whole "how dare you discipline my child" thing - herding a child out of a dangerous situation isn't discipline.

This includes climbing a store display, enforcing a safety barrier at a roadside, zoo, by the water, etc.

And it includes "exploring" restaurant aisle.
When you're trying to wrangle kids by yourself... it's hard.

When you've got a partner there and you have one young child between you, it's not *fun* to interrupt your meal so that one of you can take the child outside for a bit.

But it's what you do, if you go there.
And the whole "how dare you talk to my child"... what happens when your child starts tugging on someone else's table cloth? Reaches to put a hand in their food? Goes for a fork or a knife?

They have to make a snap decision about talking to or even touching a strange child.
And whichever one they do, they will probably feel weird and bad about it, because it's a situation that has no right/safe answer in the age of "how dare you tell my child no for me".
I think you're actually nailing it here. If you've decided for yourself that there's just nothing to be done about an inquisitive four year old rambling headlong into danger, someone showing how untrue that is can feel like a judgment on your parenting.

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