What do you suppose it is?

So recently we took a weekend trip to Chicago. It was test run to see how we do traveling with 4 kids.  Could we fit everything in the car without sending me and my claustrophobic tendencies over the edge?  What kind of traveler would Mr. Andrew be?  Would the car make it?  Could we still all fit in one hotel room?

For the  most part the trip was a success.  Andrew held up pretty well and we did all right staying in a Homewood suites.  The only "glitch" was the car - - - The "Check suspension" light came on.  This does not bode well for loading up the car with even more gear and making not a 5 hour drive but a 15 hour drive to TX.  The jury is still out on how to best proceed with the car issue but all of that is for another blog post.

Here is my question -
On this trip, as on pretty much every trip we ever take, we had strangers and family comment on how well behaved our children are.  We love the comments - we do but ....
(1) Our children are certainly far from perfect.  Just this morning I was yelling at my oldest to leave my 2nd youngest alone.  Those two are both very "Type A" and typically wait until I am nursing the baby or I am just sitting down to do something for myself to get into a battle of wills.
(2) I know there are wild kids out there - I've seen them. But not every kid is a total hellion. What is it that stands out about our kids in public places?  What is it that makes strangers comment.  I have never gone up to random parents in a hotel lobby and shared any kind of opinion about their children with them; good or bad.

And what do you suppose David and I do so differently from other parents?  I really feel like we are pretty average in our parenting skills.  Yes, I have a degree in Early Childhood Education but there are plenty  of teachers out there with bratty kids.

I keep thinking about this but I am stumped.  The only big difference I really see is that we do limit their extra activities. They are signed up for far less than most of their friends. And we also have earlier bedtimes for them than most other families.  Do you suppose those two things are the key?  Do you think other kids are bratty simply because they are tired? I don't think that's it. And my kids can definitely be bratty - they just usually save it for home.

Part of me tends to think part of it simply boils down to DNA. Maybe with two nerds for parents, our kids are already pre-disposed to be this way????

If I ever figure it out I'll be sure to let you know .....