by Shirley
I was going to just make this a comment and then when I saw Carol say she needed blog I decided to make it a blog. So here goes.
I know I don't have children so I should probably shut up and say nothing, but I'm not going to. I just came back from the grocery store a little while ago. There was a child (2-3) that was not happy from the time she entered the mall until I saw her leave. She cried, she screamed, she kicked off her shoes then screamed some more if her mother didn't pick up her shoe right away. She cried if the other woman with the mother started to push the cart. You could hear her all over the store. At one point I saw the mother giving her chips and I though, yeah that's a good idea to reward her for crying and screaming! I left that store and went over to the pharmacy to buy a lottery ticket for tomorrow night (a lucky one I hope). I was putting the ticket in my purse and I heard the crying and screaming again. They were coming into the pharmacy. I stuffed the money in my purse and left to call my taxi. The taxis were busy so I had to sit on a bench to wait awhile, The whole time I could still hear this kid. The most shocking part about this story (to me anyway) was when they left the pharmacy the mother let the kid have a ride in one of those race car things they have at malls. The mother was saying how much she loved her and the kid just said "I don't love you".
Now I don't know that family or why the kid was screaming or crying, BUT...
#1 - the kid would NOT have gotten chips.
#2 - the shoes would have been put in my pocket or purse NOT given back to the kid to kick off again, and again and again.
#3 - I wouldn't have stayed in the store with the kid crying and screaming like that, we would have left.
#4 - I'm DAMN SURE the kid would NOT have been rewarded with a ride before we left the mall.
If this was your child how would you have handled it?
34 comments:
Good Moaning~
1
Damn!
Remembering my Dad today and all the other military men and women, past and present, who served/serve for our freedom.
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
OK I'm off to the service where my sisters and I will lay a wreath for Dad and then we are going out to lunch. See you all later!
Good moaning Tina!!
Oh Shirley!! I would have killed my kid!!! My kid wouldn't have gotten anything from me except for a beating!!!!! Once, my oldest had a screaming tantrum in a grocery store.....nothing I did would make him stop! He wanted something and I said NO! So I did what any sane woman would do who doesn't want to be put in jail for murder....I left him there and walked out to my car! Of course, I kept an eye on him, but every time he saw me look back at him, he'd stop coming after me and scream and cry again....on the ground...kicking! Finally, we both got to the car, and I spanked the crap out of him again, he cried all the way to the sitter's house and that was that! Boy was I fun to talk to at work that day!
On the flip side, I talked to that same kid last night and I love him to pieces!!! I still want to kill him sometimes, but I definitely love him~
Now how did I get on that tangent?~
Shirley, great blog and even greater quote. I will relay that to my son.
I got a phone call from my neighbor (btw single Italian). he wanted to know if my son was around. I said he was at community college. He asked me to do him a favor, he said "will you please salute him for me, wish him a great Vets day, and say OORAH!!!" Can you tell he too was a Marine lol! I got a big kick out of that!
On the kid thing...If this child did this on a reg. basis and he had no mental or physical ailments, I would have marched him outside and had a face to face "Mom talk" with him.I would tug at the top of his t-shirt and 'splain what would/could happen when we got home! I know it is hard to get sitters some time, but I would never put the public through that again!
Yesterday I was in the grocery store and I could here a kid screaming. His Mom didn't seem the least bothered by it! Maybe she was trying the "ignoring thing". I sure couldn't! I felt like spanking HER!
Tina, I had a feeling you were "THAT" kind of Mom!! ;-)
Good job! :)
Good moaning!
Happy Veterans Day! In my immediate family, I have my dad who served in the Air Force.
Years later, when he was in the reserves, he was a captain on Pan Am Airlines, and took troops home from Viet Nam.
My brother is in the Army, and served twice in Iraq.
This is a day to honor everyone who has served!
Shirley, I too do not have kids. I certainly would not have rewarded the child for the bad behavior.
From my years working in neonatal ICU, I know that many people spend thousands and thousands of dollars in fertility treatment. They want a child at any cost.
So when they get that baby, they are probably very over indulgent and the child can do no wrong.
This is just my personal opinion and observation.
At our reunions, it was not hard to tell that many of these kids were spoiled, coddled, revered. Some would get designer clothing, expensive jewelry, etc.
Many times, this would be the only child as often the mother was "older", late 40s.
Closer to home, in August my sister in law and nephew (age 4) were out to visit. My nephew started having a melt down, and sis in law took him out of the room for a "talk".
When they came back, he was so well behaved!
I know they don't spank him, so not sure what she said to make him calm down.
A true miracle!
Great blog Shirley! Enjoy your day with family!
Morning Glories!
Shirley I would do what I did with my children. Out of the store we would go and in the car home. Period. No chips, no damn cookies and forget about horse rides. Geez.
Happy Veterans day to everyone!
PS Ritchie has his splint off. I thought he was fast with it on, well he is like freaking speed racer with the damn thing off! I have learned there is nothing more determined than a 2 year old looking for things to get into.
Good morning all!!
that has to be at the top of the list of annoying things....nerve wracking...omg!!
Naturally I never had those experiences with MY son....not until his late 30's anyway....
But I have certainly seen these children at various times....and thats why I always carry duct tape and tranquilizer darts....
Seriously though...I did see a woman seemingly oblivious to her devils child's antics in a department store.....
and at the point that she grabbed his arm to leave he said very clearly and loudly to her....
"F U C K Y O U !!"
I was flabbergasted!! I spun that little boy around and I told him..."your Mother may be brainless...but you may not speak to her that way!! Now go over there and tell the dumbass your sorry!!"
Good Morning Hooters!
Shirley, I would have done just what you said. I also would have included a 'face to face' talk that would clue in said child how UNHAPPY I was, followed by a smack on the butt.
When my oldest was about 4, he was the cart at Kmart and kept standing up. I told him to sit more then once. Finally, I shook my finger at him and just as I was about to threaten him he screamed at the top of his lungs :DON"T BEAT ME!".
Now, I never beat my child in his life, but I sure wanted to then! Little Shit. We promptly left the store.
On another note- Thanks to all the Veterans and those still Serving.
I think I would have committed infanticide and then given myself up to the authorities and begged the jury for forgiveness!
OK, on a more serious note, I had this thought last night when JACNY posted "In Flanders Fields on her FB page":
I find myself drawn to that progenitor of all veterans (US) and remembrance (Canada) day rituals and ceremonies, not WW2 of course, but the war to end all wars, the Great War, replete with its haunting millions of dead young men, butchered ...in the name of obedience to time-honored goals and time-honored rituals, sadly for them, played out, for almost the first time, in the context of industrial killing and maiming machines.
Their legacy and sacrifice echo through almost a century's worth of history that they helped to shape, but never saw. For they lie, not at the end of a full life, in their hometown cemeteries, put to rest by loving spouses and descendants, but instead alone for eternity, beneath cookie-cutter crosses, extending far as the eye can see, each reinforcing a collective message of forlorn anonymity.
In Flanders Fields.
I wouldn't have hit the kid, but he would have wished I had. My older daughter was a delight to take out. My younger one was much more demanding. She stayed home a lot.
Bear That was really beautiful. Thank you. Although they were laid to rest in anonymous graves, they are not forgotten because it was not their individual physical characteristics that defined them, but it was their spirit, sacrifice, and strength of character that is remembered throughout the ages.
Tina Congrats on moaning the prettiest today. I can just picture it. You walking away, the boy trailing you, you look back, the boy crying and flailing, you keept walking, boy trails after you. People watching. What a long trek back to the car. Funny now but not then.
Shirley Great blog! I am mother to two but I don't remember either of them acting up that badly, ever. I do remember them playing hide and seek in a rack of clothes at a department store and I had a difficult time getting them to stop. I really wanted to smack them. In our society today, spanking is looked down on and maybe too many parents think that means no punishment or consequences should be meted out to the child for bad behavior. I see way to many people NOT being parents. Part of the responsibility of parenting is to teach the child how to behave in society. This is for the child's sake and the sake of society. People who don't teach their children how to behave are doing a great disservice to the child. There are also children that are severely autistic or with some other disorder that makes them unable to behave, literally. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to live with a child like that full time.
Oh, I did have a wooden spoon that was the "spanking" spoon. It was my threat of last resort. I never used it, of course, but counting to 3 with threat of getting the spoon always stopped whatever bad behavior was going on.
2 OMG's....
Whabbear & J/L...
Brings a tear.....
stunning words....I had a million things spinning around in my mind....
everything stopped as I read your words....very moving....
oh! J/L! We had Señor Spoon...lol!!
J/L~ It has always cracked me up when people count to 5 or 10! I always think....3....COUNT TO 3!!! and that's it....what are you waiting for??!!!!!! The faster you count, the faster you can get on to smacking their hides!!!!~
Well hello, DeeDee~ Did you get any? :o
DeeDee. Your spoon was Hispanic? LOL
Tina. I agree. Counting to three is plenty long enough for them to decide on the correct course of behavior.
TINA - Agree'd....my kids got the 3 count!! lol @ getting to smack them faster ;)
Seriously, I did what my Mom did. Give them the stink eye and a firm squeeze on the knee. That usually took care of things until I got home. I only had to leave a store once. My youngest was a newborn and I had a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 year old with me. I left the cart loaded to the hilt in isle 8 and ran like hell to the van. And then I let my hubby do the shopping later!!!
J/L....yes..Mexican
I have been in Idaho since Saturday trying to by the rights to potatoes.....I got home last night....
So to answer your question TINA....no.... I didn't get potatoes...yet! But I did get a cucumber!!
oh! and lots of Kumquats...
SHIRLEY...I would have torn off the kids left arm and then beat the crap out of her with it...JUST KIDDING!!
I would have stopped shopping, picked her up and out we would go back home...no chips, no ride...no nothing.
As a retail manager, I saw many, MANY tantrums and I wanted to smack the mom...not the kid!
DeeDee; I don't think they grow kumquats where you went. Coconuts maybe. And they probably manufacture bowling balls. Steel ones.
DeeDee~ well.....at least you got ur exercise while you were gone...how many kumsquats did you do?
Evening Tina, Mary, EBJ, Lynn D, DeeDee, Goldie, Whabbear, Bonachi, Just Lin, Jodi and Maureen!!
Thanks for the comments on the blog. The little girl was probably tired because it was about 2 in the afternoon and she could have just wanted a nap. However if she was tired she could have just said "Mommy I'm tired." instead of screaming and crying.
Tina isn't killing a sin?
Mary this mother didn't seem the least bit concerned. She just kept putting the shoes back on and feeding her chip!
EBJ maybe you SIL should share with us her secret to getting her son to behave. She might be able to make some money.
Lynn D I think I would have gone home too. Glad Ritchie is getting better. Sounds like he is going to be a track star!!
DeeDee have you ever really been in a grocery store? Don't you have "people" to do that sort of thing for you?
Goldie now adays you would have been surrounded by security guards!
Whabbear once the jury heard the fact you would have definately been sent home!!
Bonachi I wish that child had stayed home that day!
Just Lin, always the voice of reason. You're right, the child could have had a mental or physical reason for her behavior. But at the time she was giving me a headache and I just wanted to smack her into last week!!
Jodi lol @ smack them faster!!
Maureen you are just too violent! I would never let you babysit for my kids!!!
Well Ho's I'll leave you to it! I'm going to bed. The service today drew a good crowd. I'm glad my sister Marilyn could come down for it. Lunch with her and Robin was nice too. We all had a club sandwich and fries. Yummy!
Nighty night Owls!!
Carol, not that it matters,but what happened to the picture I sent with the blog? I assume you could load it or something. No worrys, just curious.
I was getting a pedicure the other day and my nails done and a mother brought her about 4 yr old boy in. She and Grandma were there when I arrived and there when I left. This kid wasn't crying but was playing and screaming and rolling on the chairs all over the place as the mom and grandmother read magazines. I just about said something. Most women go to a place like that to be pampered not to listen to a kid screaming. You couldn't even get by him when you were walking to the sink! My tech apologized for them and I couldn't wit to get the hell out of my "pampering/expensive" afternoon!
Dianne That was just plain rude of those women to bring their child their and let him act like he owns the place. That's what I mean about too many people are not parenting. They're letting the kid raise himself which is not fair to him in the long run.
I know I typed "their" instead of "there" in one place but I'm too lazy to change it.
SHIRLEY: I don't have any kids but I know I wouldn't have let mine get away with this if I did. My mom told us that if we acted up she would just come up behind us, wrap a lock of our hair around her finger and tug. When we looked up at her she would give us that 'mom look' and we knew we better knock it off or get taken right home to suffer the consequences! That 'mom look' is something else..it scared me even when I was in my 40's. That's one powerful tool to have in your arsenal!!
J/LIN: My mom had a belt that hung on the wall in the kitchen. She'd written "The Peacemaker" on it. She never took it off the hook..she didn't have to..the threat was enough!
MARY: LOL @ spanking the mom!!
GOLDIE: When my cousin got in trouble he would run outside screaming 'Don't hit me mom!' before my aunt even touched him. She would get so embarrassed! Of course the minute she coaxed him back into the house..she'd smack him!
JODI: LOL@ stink eye! Is that what you call the mom look in Wisconsin? Love it!!
DIANNE: It always surprises me that some parents can just ignore these outbursts..I never did understand that.
SACBARB: I sure hope you're feeling better! I think it might be too soon to be hoeing though.. ;)
Sweet dreams everyone!
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