Chalk-talk

It's been quite a few weeks since I had a conversation with the owner of one of my fave mama/baby hangouts about appropriate baby (hence mama!) behavior. The conversation had been spurred by a recent visit by some renegade toddlers who 'decorated' the walls and furnishings with markers and chalk while their mothers apparently did nothing to curb the inappropriate behavior.

Newhavenbaby and I go to a lot of non-baby places where he is frequently the only (or one of two when he brings a date!) baby there, and we leave if he seems to be disturbing anyone unneccesarily. We even leave my fave mama/baby hangout, coffee-in-hand frequently, because he gets restless and there are 2 or 3 other groups of people there enjoying the day who I am mortified to be disturbing.

Regardless, the conversation got me thinking about parenting in public places like restaurants. What do you do when babies or toddlers aren't acting appropriately? How can a business cater to the baby-set and ensure that the mama-dada-set keep them in check?

It seems like there should be a better way than this... Right?

via bloggingbaby