I agree what it boils down to is the parents who don't parent ruin it for hte parents who do and whose children know how to act or their parents teach them how.

When DS8 was 19 months old we flew to STL to see 3dog2kidmom and several older people rolled their eyes and didn't want to be near him. But I made sure I had stuff to keep himm occupied and when we got off to get our luggage I had several people come up to me and tell me how well behaved he was. I just hate it when people "assume" the worst.

Thankfully my kids have never overheard comments like that but we also tend to go to family oreinted restuarnts, bc I want them to be comfortable also.