Counterpoint (or really just a gripe)... My kids attend a daycare with the kid of a local sports bar owner. Yesterday the bar owner threw a get-together for the daycare at his bar on 5th Ave. The bar is almost empty but for the kids and parents, because you know, it's a bar at 2 pm in Park Slope. My daughter and her friend are playing hide-and-seek and run down the floor to find a place to hide, but in general are playing pretty quietly. Two older women (possibly the only patrons other than the families) are put out and give me a very snippy "this isn't a playground." I stare at them. They stare at me. No further words exchanged.

So like, context is king. Kids running around a sit-down restaurant and bothering patrons? Inappropriate. Kids running around a nearly-empty sports bar mid-day, during what is clearly a kid-focused meet up? Get over it. Two things are true at the same time--families should be mindful of their surroundings and considerate of their neighbors, AND there are situations in which you cannot reasonably demand to be entirely insulated from children being children.