Is he YOUR child??

Last week ventured to the library with the Janks. C was not having a great day. He spent most of the trip on the floor throwing a fit. I have written about Love and Logic parenting before and the amazing help it provided us. L&L techniques in the past worked like a charm for us; I keep my wits, we all stay calm, cool, and collected and they do what I wanted them to do with a smile on their faces. NOT SO MUCH this time.

I have to admit, I get very embarrassed when they throw fits in public. It doesn't happen that often, so I don't deal with it well. I can just feel people's eyes staring at us and imagine what they are saying....I feel judged. In fact, most of the time I want to scream at the person staring at me while one of the boys are melting down and ask them:
1. Do you have kids?
2. Do you have twins?

Chances are if they have kids, they don't have twins, so they don't know how hard it is to manage two toddlers and herd them in the right direction without leaving a path of destruction.

Back to the library, C was not having a good day. It happens to us all. I know it happens to me. He wanted to be held and would not tell me what he needed. Disclaimer: my children do have the words to tell or or the ability to show me what they need/want. So, I let him throw a fit. It was a doozie. Not just one, but over and over he threw a fit.

We started packing up our stuff to head back to the car and he refused to walk and I refuse to be a baby taxi. The number one fight I have with him is walking into or out of places. He wants to be carried. So, I "left" him behind and kept on trucking with A and the Janks. He was never out of our sight and it was a safe place so don't think he was abandoned.

During all of this, this lady ran up to me and asked: "Is he YOUR child?" She didn't ask me with concern in her voice, she was basically telling me that I was doing a terrible job as a parent. I just smiled and said through my teeth, "yes he is my child and he can walk." I WANTED TO SMACK HER. Seriously.

C joined us and walked to the car.

Question: should I have picked him up to avoid the scene or stuck to my principles made him walk?