Anti-Kid

When did our world become so anti-kid? It seems like most people now look at families with children with such disgust, like how could we dare be so brazen as to bring our children out in public. My husband and I are VERY conscious of how our children behave in public and we do not take them to restaurants or other establishments where they could potentially be a distraction. I think we are almost conscious of it to a fault, oftentimes avoiding certain places that others with children would not think twice about bringing their kids to. There is nothing that is more annoying than having "date night" at a fancy restaurant and being seated next to the family with four kids. I’m not talking about that type of anti family snobbery. I’m talking about just existing in public. Like the mall. I understand that most people think their children are well behaved, but my husband and I are realists. We know when our children are acting like spawns of Satan and when they are just being kids…or better than that, behaving much better than any other kid their ages would ever act. As a whole, in public, our children are extraordinarily behaved. They sit still in restaurants; they don’t run around or yell or cry. They don’t dash through all the racks at stores. They sit in the stroller or my daughter walks, holding my hand. However, despite this it is still amazing the looks we get (usually from the over 65 crowd) for basically daring to procreate. What is with this new attitude? At first I was self-conscious thinking that maybe my kids are doing something that I am just not aware of. However, I started to watch other families, specifically mothers, out with their children in very public places. They too were getting, "The Look". Their kids weren’t behaving poorly either. It seemed like the only problem these people had with "Us" (those that dared to bring our kids out) is that we had children. So, let’s hear it. Do you have a similar experience? Do you often feel as if you should feel bad because you took your kids out? Now, it just makes me mad and makes me realize that the problem is with their crotchety old selves and not me, my husband, my children, or the millions of other families out there who find it fun to spend time with their children.