It was a great experience meeting other moms while exploring a new city with my baby. Since I am still nursing, my baby could be with me. The programs took place in many different sites, which allowed me to learn about the city. This opportunity to visit cultural activities was fun, especially with the understanding docents and varied exhibits which I probably wouldn't have visited. All the mothers and tour programs were understanding of the possibility of crying/fussing/feeding of the youngest tour members! I met some terrific friends too! I'm so glad that I found Urban Mommies. I highly recommend their tours.

I understand the desire for some people to have 'your place' for yourself and your friends, but the youngest and oldest people in our society have the right to be visible and active members of a community, too. Children and parents have the right to gather and socialize just as much as everyone else does. The person who wrote the review asking for mothers to gather in their homes and "please be invisible" has a pretty narrow/oppressive/exclusive point of view. When she talks about the 'loud presence' of the children, she is basically saying that old Victorian crap about children being seen and not heard. Children are loud, it's true, and they are active and exuberant... no, I am sorry, they don't hunch over laptops reading MySpace and drinking $4.00 coffee. As someone who was at the Quiet Storm on that day, I believe that we were totally respectful of the waitress (I personally gave her a 30% tip and thanked her several times for being so great), we were completely sequestered in the back area near the pinball machine, and we ordered and ate a ton of foods and drinks. Maybe we were loud, but even with no children, we would have been a group of TEN ADULTS! Ten adults talking, laughing, and enjoying themselves IS loud... so should ten adults never convene at somebody else's precious coffee shop?! I come from a loud Italian-American family - should the Quiet Storm not let Italian-Americans gather there, because we can get raucous when we all get together? Who is allowed to gather and who is not welcome? Now I think it's clear that we should return to the Quiet Storm every week, right?! ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Oh, also, the group at the Q.S. had no affiliation with Urban Mommies, so I'm not sure why that reviewer blindly attacked this group without any knowledge. Urban Mommies organizes interesting events and tours all around the city, like at museums. It's a bit pricey for me, unfortunately, but I still think it's a great resource for some women.

I am a supporter of mothers coming together in solidarity. However, i am also a supporter of mothers who come together in that solidarity to respect the establishment that they are in. I was eating breakfast at the Quiet Storm in Garfield this morning and elated to see a group of women with their children enjoying breakfast. I wish I could have enjoyed mine, but every 2 seconds all I could hear was screeching, crying, and not too much opposition from their mothers. I found this to be quite frustrating. Please, out of respect for others, pay attention to your child, and side step the social time if it means that you are not going to make an effort to calm your child when they are obviously distraught. I noticed other patrons becoming highly annoyed at all the noise coming from the back of the restaurant. Enough to pick up, pay their check and leave. It was not just the children either. Mothers, you were adding to the clamor. If you want to allow your children to run around unsupervised (the waitstaff is not a kindercare staff) and create such a loud presence, perhaps you should take your meeting to the homes of a mother. It is not fair to everyone around you to make them uncomfortable when they are just trying to enjoy their breakfast. I also saw disrespect to the service staff, having that girl run back and forth every 5 minutes for something you wanted which could have easily been ordered when she was there to wait on you. You are not the only people in the restaurant. I take this personally because I do not want to be clumped into a group of women who cannot manage their children or themselves. Your display at the restaurant this morning was a severe step to birth control for onlookers

Having lived in the City for 5 years, I had already been to most of the tour sites, but it was still a fun way to connect with some new moms.