[gknoy]

Don't stress about how others may feel about your child's inevitable public meltdowns. Every parent has had children who have a meltdown (tired? hungry? you said no?) in public, and we have all felt embarassed/etc. I guess I can't really speak for more than myself, but when I see a parent whose child is having a hard time, I can only feel compassion for the parent (I know how difficult it is in that moment) and for the child (they are usually also emotionally compromised).

I'm not going to think you're a bad parent, or that your child is bad, because they are wailing about some toy, or starfishing on the floor of Target. We've all been there. We've all had to escort the noisy ones out of quiet places (church, movie, restaurant, etc). As someone else said, welcome to the brotherhood. :)