To be clear: he wasn't 'acting up.' He was talking.

You mention that eating out is a rare treat people can't afford. I am one of those people. This was our rare luxury, and having it policed by strangers is exactly what ruined it.

If your definition of 'civilised' requires a child to be invisible to be valid, then we have very different values and regarding your friend: framing her choice to keep her grandson home as 'respect' is deeply sad to me. thats not respect; it’s erasure. It teaches him that he only belongs in the world if he is invisible. My son has as much right to take up space in public as anyone else. We don't hide