If you go along to the food court of any supermarket, you will see three main categories of parents:
1. The clueless negative "don't do this, don't do that, sit still" smacking types.
2. The balanced "don't do this, yes you can do that types" who may or may not smack.
3. The loving types who enjoy their kids and are interested in their kids and let them play and follow along to watch and make suggestions. They never smack their kids.
This third type is the way go. The kids feel the love and interest, and so they want to bask in that warmth. They don't want to annoy anyone. Those parents can even make sitting still at the table seem like a fun and pleasant thing to do. And it is fun for the kids because of the parent's light. The kids feel the connection.
Just my observation.
BTW, I'm surprised that parents take kids to a stimulating environment such as a supermarket, and then expect the kids not to be stimulated. There needs to be parental education, and I don't care if anyone calls that a "nanny state".
