Secondly, I feel that the place to deal with these things is at home. If I let my Blossoms shout at the dinner table, I should not be the least bit embarrassed if they do it in a restaurant. It's a case of not thinking of others when they do this. At home, we can have a happy level of noise, while teaching them to say, "Excuse me" when they'd like to talk and learning to wait til someone else is finished talking before starting themselves. (What a training process this is!!!!!!!) One of Mommy's biggest frustrations is not being able to complete a thought or sentence to Daddy in conversation. This habit, left unchecked, leads to rudeness in public. I use this line, "Look around Honey, all these people came here for peace and quiet too. So, let's think of them and quiet down, ok?" Yes, really. I say that to my 2 1/2, 5 and & 7 yr old. Don't you wish more people thought about you in this world?
(As a side note, I can't stand parents that are ON their children, CONSTANTLY. I try hard not to do this, but we all know that parenting is humbling. This constant correction and reminding in public really says to me that they haven't been trained at home. If I train my Blossoms at home, they will require less constant critical comments from my direction in public. In essence, they can just be themselves, not a performance in public. I think of it as teaching and training them to be genuine.)
