Re: So Who Is The Real Whiner???????
While some of the comments were out of line, I am a mother of four, and never allowed my kids to behave the way I see some kids behaving. Some mothers are genuinely not attentive to the needs of their children when they are out socializing. It is bad manners to allow your child to run around going crazy anywhere, and it really just takes preplanning (a bag of activities and snacks) and setting out clear expectations to control behavior. There is no reason for an 18 month old to be left to play unattended with other kids. A 10 year old or the television are not acceptable babysitters. When the kids are getting tired, it's time to go home.
I was taken to weddings, nice restaurants, friend's homes, and so on, from the time I was an infant, and I knew better than to run around or misbehave. I was not beaten or threatened in order to make me behave, and I had a very enjoyable childhood. I really think that there are major cultural differences in the way that we raise our children. Many of my friends believe that a child should never be disciplined until they are quite a bit older, and I believe that a little prevention and setting out clear expectations from a very early age (even a 1 year old understands the word 'no', and an 18 month old can handle a minute of time out), most of these problems can be avoided.
That said, kids are kids, and accidents happen. When they do, don't sit there waiting for someone else to handle the situation - clean up after your child, apologize for what happened, offer to pay for what was broken, and discipline your child appropriately.
We have friends with a 2 year old who bites - they think it's adorable, but all of the other kids hate this child. A little discipline when she started this habit would have stopped it early on. Now she bites people and giggles.