Never go to a place where your child will be asked to sit or stand still without a stash of books, paper, and crayons (or small noiseless toys) to keep your child occupied. Let her pick the books or the toys to take along.

If she’s going to have to remain seated for a really long time (for example, when traveling by car or plane), consider taking along a laptop or portable DVD player to show movies.

At restaurants, make your child sit in a high chair or booster seat and always strap her in. A captive audience is a good audience.