[TheWickerFan]

I read the article you posted and I'm not entirely sure what to think. I avoided shopping with my pre school age children as often as possible. I was fortunate, I have a husband, and a mother who lives close by so getting someone to watch the children while I ran errands wasn't normally an issue, but there are loads of people who aren't so lucky. What exactly are you supposed to do when your 2 year old starts crying on the checkout line with you madly loading a week's worth of groceries onto the conveyor belt and the cashier starts complaining about the noise? Put a gag in their mouth? Maybe the sucker the cashier suggested would have worked, but more likely the kid would have thrown it to the ground and screamed louder. I myself probably would have been so pissed I would have left all the groceries there on the conveyor belt picked up my screaming child and left.

Restaurants and movie theaters are optional activities that you do not have to go to. Errands such as grocery shopping are necessary and sometimes you have to take the rugrats with you.