WOW!!! What a thread! Val, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience in Target...the mental picture that was posted of you running through the store brought a smile to my face!!!
As for kids in public or at restaurants, etc...I have a 6 year old who is pretty rambunctious - well mannered - but rambunctious. He never really has any kind of tantrums in public but he isn't perfectly behaved all the time either, especially when I have to drag him on errands and stuff. I think a lot of times we expect so much from kids that it puts a lot of stress on them. Maybe more than you can imaging and truth be told, they cannot control themselves all the time. Why WOULD you ask a child to control themselves and behave perfectly ALL THE TIME IN EVERY SITUATION??? As an adult, DO YOU?????? I think at times adults look at children and think they have to act like mini adults and that's just not possible. As adults expect children to be courteous to them, so too should adults be courteous to children. I was once on the bus with my son and he was talking and laughing...he was kinda loud but whatever. The woman in front of us turned around, shushed him, looked at me and told me that he was making too much noise and it was disturbing her cell phone conversation
I told her off for shushing my son and also told her I didn't give a crap about her cell phone conversation. I then told my son that he DID NOT have to be quiet to accomodate someone's cell phone conversation in a public place.
You have to teach them to be respectful BUT I will not allow my child to feel as though his emotions and feelings are less important than an adults.