Anonymous wrote:Really, you can take your kid anywhere, live like European in the US unapologetically, is my motto.
Places that worked well for my incredibly squirmy child:
-American Indian Museum cafeteria
-National Gallery of Art cafeteria (the "Cascade Cafe" specifically)
-National Portrait Gallery Courtyard Cafe (I also liked the little side coffee bar upstairs (which may have disappeared with covid) but all the people "working from the museum" on their laptops were too fussy to be around a baby so we had to retreat back downstairs, boo)
-the Sculpture Garden on the mall is actually not a great place to go with toddlers because they want to climb on the art and you will definitely get a stern talking-to by the guards if your kid even gets too close to the art.

. If you want an accessible garden, the Bishop's Garden is a good one and open city is right next to it. Open City is very noisy but the chairs are kind of too close and uncomfortable for sitting very long with a squirmy kid IMHO. Also not metro accessible, but try a bus, they are good, too.
-I also brought my kid to Tryst all the time and sat on the couches, #sorrynotsorry it's a public coffee shop not a quiet library geez