Was she drunk or disorderly? No.

Did she have an ASBO? No.

What was her crime? She had a baby with her.

The audacity of that woman to bring a child out in public! I think not.

The owner believed that the child would disrupt the peace and tranquillity within his eatery.

He assumed that his customers would find the child's presence irritating.

Perhaps he was right but then perhaps he and those complaining customers are also the people who complain the loudest about the lack of social skills held by the youth of today.

I have been in similar situations myself on many occasions. I have taken my children into cafes and immediately staff and customers let fly with the filthy looks.

My children and I are not foul mouthed, filthy, stinking or questionably dressed but our presence is demonstrably offensive to some.

I used to be bothered by it.

I felt defensive of my children knowing they did not deserve such prejudice.

Then one day it occurred to me that the filthy looks say absolutely nothing about my kids and I but demonstrate beautifully how shallow, petty and bad mannered the dagger throwers are.

My children do not wilfully or deliberately make others uncomfortable or hurt their feelings, but these customers do.

Which of us is more offensive?

I do consider the environment into which I take my kids and avoid places where childhood exuberance could be problematic.

I am not oblivious or disrespectful to those who just want a peaceful dining experience.

By the same token however, those diners should not expect to be able to rule the roost in every establishment.

From cafes to supermarkets, doctors waiting rooms to buses. Parents do on occasion need to visit businesses where the sprogless also attend and it would be nice if we could do it without wrinkled nosed sarcasm or being treated as the equivalent of a post curry house boff.

I am happy to say that we have found a particular place which is an exception.

Y Pantry in Denbigh high street is a divine little coffee shop! Every Saturday, while my daughter attends Stagecoach, my son and I have a little routine which revolves around a trip to Y Pantry.

For more than a year now we have been welcomed not only by the staff but the regular customers too.

Although it may not seem much, I credit our weekly visits with transforming my son from an extremely shy boy into a confident and social child with ever improving table manners.

It started out with my insistence that he choose his own food and drink.

The staff, though amused has always been courteous about his strange orders such as two sausages and red sauce or 5 slices of cucumber.

Now it is his responsibility to choose our seats, arrange the cutlery, pour the milk, stir in the sugar and tidy up spills.

Pretty soon he was happy to go to the bathroom alone and has even mastered the soap dispenser.

There is a security camera trained on certain tables which he believes is looking for children with good table manners so he behaves delightfully.

Fellow diners always give him a smile but his favourite part is when he goes to pay the bill by himself.

He feels so grown up.

His confidence has built up so much and has spilt out into his daily interacting with grownups and peers.

Evil eye diners take note please; young children NEED to be introduced to these kinds of atmospheres. How else can they be expected to learn social etiquette?

Rather than sneering at parents like me, you should be commending us for our efforts instead of taking the easy option of shoving chips onto our kid's laps whilst they watch TV.

Yes there have been times when my kids have been loud in public.

My daughter likes an audience held captive so she can sing to them and there have been occasions when I have had to separate my sons hands from his sister's hair but I find distraction a reliable way of diffusing hysterics.

Great Britain is apparently the only country in Europe where the saying 'Children should be seen and not heard' is voiced.

Disgraceful!

I agree there are times when other people's children are so annoying that you have to grip your chair for fear you may just drop kick the little squirt out the door closely followed by a disinterested mother, but it does not give anyone the right to alienate parents and make an already tough job even harder.