I went to my women’s group this morning and brought my kids along. Although my friends are very patient with me and my little ones, socializing at other people’s homes can be a lot of work. Instead of visiting with my women’s group today, I spent the whole time trying to get my kids to draw, read or do something else that wasn’t disruptive to the adult conversation.

Whenever we’re in public – at a restaurant or in church -- or visiting people who don’t have children, I often wonder if my kids are getting on other people’s nerves. I worry that they’re not well-behaved and I’m not doing enough to discipline them.

This afternoon, I found this excerpt from CNN commentator Jack Cafferty’s new book, “Now or Never:”

My wife and I have just been seated for dinner when the maitre d' walks over and seats a young family at the table next to us and the kids start carrying on like orangutans on a leash.

The parents are going, "Timmy, that's not nice, don't throw your food, stop stuffing your mashed potatoes up your nose." Are mom and dad having fun yet, picking food up off the floor, apologizing to people like us, and wiping food flung across the table off their faces?

Some parents still have this attitude that their kids are too special to be burdened by discipline. And the rest of us are supposed to put up with their little mutants. That attitude really pisses me off.

I hate to break it to them, but the kids aren't special, and I don't have to put up with their behavior. If you can't control your obnoxious little brats, leave them home.

They don't belong out in public annoying other people, period.

Parents: Do you ever worry about your kids’ behavior in public? Do you think most people are pretty tolerant of little children or are they like Jack Cafferty, who thinks kids should be left at home if they can’t act like adults?

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