Today involved a lot of shopping. I bought a few things for my new place, and Mike needed some new clothes for the conference. Of course, he won't go shopping unless I drag him kicking and screaming because shopping is evil. We also got new cell phones, including one for the older kiddo. (That's scary.)

During the course of all this, I had two people tell me that my children were well-behaved.

Not one, two!

I kept waiting for them to break out laughing once they saw my face.

After years and years of listening to people tell me how I am not discplining my child right, it's rather vindicating. If my kid was running, people told me I should be giving him a time out rather than telling him to walk. If he was throwing a tantrum, they said I ought to spank him rather than carry him out of the store and allow him to scream and pummel me.

Those were things that my parents did (heck most parents did back then), and I don't think it did a lot to help me. Telling a kid what not to do doesn't help them know what they SHOULD do. I also don't believe for one second that punishing a kid for expressing the way he feels is going to help him to mature emotionally.

But now my 12 year-old hyperactive boy with massive sensory issues is being called, "A well-behaved child," and, "A mature young man."

At the last of the places we visited today, the youngest one had a meltdown. I know a couple people were glaring at me for letting him cry out his frustration. (You see, he wanted a toy, and we told him he couldn't have one. My response was, "I'm sorry, but we can't get you one tonight.") I'm not too worried, though. In a few years, they probably won't realize it's the same kid they think is well-behaved.