soap box

I'm not an ogre (although I'm sure there are people who would disagree).

I do not claim to be a parenting expert.

I love my children and plenty of other people's children as well.  I even taught school, so this should give some clarification there.

All that said, there are undoubtedly times and places where it is neither appropriate nor courteous to bring your kids!

As a rule, people are not allowed to bring their kids to work or school with them.  Why is that?  I'm guessing because it would hinder the learning or productivity that should be happening.

There are other places where you shouldn't take your kids.  Of course there are extenuating circumstances and exceptions to the rule, but mostly you shouldn't take your kids somewhere that they are going to distract everyone else; i.e: the movies, a museum, CHURCH.  I know, some of you may be aghast that I would say such a thing.  If I'm going somewhere to listen or pay attention to a show or speaker or some such as that, it's really difficult for me to do that if I am consistently distracted by your child. 

Pardon the outburst, but seriously!  Maybe your kids are quiet or old enough that this doesn't apply to them.  This obviously is not for every kid.  Both my kids are pretty loud and one of them is very rambunctious .  But know that as I am training them up in the way that they should go, I'll try my best to keep them from places that they could potentially cause a distraction.  I'll do this by finding a babysitter, utilizing the nursery, and all in all not just throwing my hands up to say, "I'm sorry; I just can't do anything with them."  The moment they know that they are the ones in control, you have trouble on your hands.  If you can't do anything to control your children when they are toddlers, how do you think that's going to pan out by the time they are teenagers?  The likelihood is that they will not magically turn out awesome anyway.  

You are doing a disservice to your kids by letting them be the authority. 

They do not need you to be a friend to them.  They need you to be a parent.