In the past two days, I have witnessed two “sippy cup incidents” and I thought this might be a good place to discuss them. The first one, I was taking a cross-town bus and there was a two-year-old (or so) sitting in front of me(or standing, actually) alternating licking the condensed and foggy bus window and pouring juice from his sippy cup into the ridges around the window and down the wall. The second was last night at a fairly swanky art gallery show opening for three local artists. I quickly assessed that one of the artists was a twenty-something mother since there were several young families wandering about with strollers (yes, in an art gallery) and there were a couple well-dressed toddlers bounding about swinging leaking sippy cups amidst the walls of art. Needless to say, the curator looked much more anxious than normal.
Now, before someone accuses me of being one of those cranky old people who thinks children should be seen and not heard, I hope you’ll remember that is not me at all–my issue is not with children being at art openings (I think that is fabulous) and I do realize that we have become an incredibly mobile society–water bottles and portable EVERYTHING taken into account–my issue is that I don’t think anyone ought to be dribbling juice down a bus wall or on the carpet and furniture in a public space. If truth be told, I didn’t even let my kids walk around the house with their sippy cups when they were toddlers–there was a place at the counter where they could have them and come for drinks and when we were out in public, it was a sit down and have a drink situation.
I get that life is messy and that parents want convenience and I really am not stodgy (at least I don’t think so) but I do think there needs to be some manners and protocol–even for the young set (and their parents). I am all for breastfeeding in public and I don’t even have a problem with children USING sippy cups when they are out and about, I just think, for the good of the order and the consideration of other people and possessions, that it ought to be a contained activity. I think we’re asking a lot from a two-year-old when we expect that a toddler unsupervised with a tippy cup will not use it as paint, science experiment or simply leave it toppled on its side drizzling liquid…
What do you think?
Also: When is He Ready for a Sippy Cup?
How Long do I Keep the Sippy Cups?
and the BABY Blog