Well, I'm 21, single, and obviously have no kids - so I really have no idea what it is like to be a parent. However, like most of you, I was once a child. And I was fortunate enough to be able to go to WDW when I was a kid. It reminds of something that I saw happen once at WDW, with a kid misbehaving and the parents disciplining the kid. Once at EPCOT, a small kid (around 5 years old) threw his sneaker across a restaurant. Well, the parents weren't happy at all. They took the kid, left the park, and went back to the hotel.
Remember, kids will be kids, especially at Disney World. I'd actually be more concerned seeing a kid upset at WDW than one who is so happy he's going to explode. The problems are with those few parents that kind of just let their kids do whatever they want. I see this when, for example, a small child is walking along a narrow wall without an adult immediately nearby. The wall might be only 3 feet high, but that could be the same height as the child. Or when on a crowded day at the park, a parent lets their kid push the empty stroller around. It may be cute and all, but a lot of times the kid can't even see over the stroller. I know that they can't make rules against all these minor annoyances (and in the grand scheme of things, they really are minor - but still annoying). But parents have to be cognizant of the fact that they are not the only people in WDW. Everyone else paid their money to get into the park too. We ALL just need to think of the concerns of other people too, and that way we can get along. And a simple apology by a parent can really go a long way.
I guess this is just the way that I feel now. Maybe things will change in the future when I experience the absolute joy of being a father.
Oh, yeah, that kid who threw his sneaker. It was me. My parents took me, left EPCOT, brought me back to the hotel, and I learned to live with it. They also apologized to the staff at the restaurant. I was just fortunate that the sneaker landed in an empty seat.
