Children in Public
When Kids Attack
So last week in my Christmas shopping, I encountered a toddler terror. This little fella had seen too much shopping that day and was letting Mom (and us) know about it. Unfortunately for him (and the rest of the store), Mom was stuck thee-deep in line and the cashier was having to call for backup over a series of no-price-tag-items. So for a good ten to twelve (felt like 80) minutes while I shopped nearby, Little Angel alternated between screaming at the top of his lungs, sobbing/crying, and asking “But why Mommy?” when he could regain his composure enough to speak.
Oh the Humanity!
After a nine hour work day, traffic commute, and several episodes of checkout shopping drama, I was not very understanding. But enough about me, what about this mother? How was she not going insane? I don’t know given my “no kids” status, but is there a switch that is thrown in Mom’s head on the way home from the hospital with Junior so that she immediately becomes oblivious to the disturbance otherwise known to us inconsiderate single people as children’s fits?
While I’m Making Parents Mad
What is with parents “reasoning” with their toddler? We’re talking about a rugrat who can’t feed himself in an orderly fashion and your response to his screaming and throwing breakable objects at fellow shoppers is “Now that’s not very appropriate, is it? Don’t you want to act more politely now? Please?”
Stop the Madness
Even if we don’t argue discipline and corporal punishment, to me the larger issue is consideration for the people around you. While Mommy may not care that Little Angel is vocally exhibiting self-expression, she should care that Little Angel is making shoppers around her pop another prozac. My point is if you’re not going to discipline your kids, don’t drag them into a public place where everyone is held captive.
Case Study
Another non-parent had similar sentiments and posted one such sign in his café. The result is that it’s caused a huge debate over who has a say in the discipline of children. One famous dead person said something like “your right to swing your fist stops at your neighbor’s nose.” Deep. The Greek translation of that is: “in consideration of others, if you can’t control 'em, leave the kids at home.”
So last week in my Christmas shopping, I encountered a toddler terror. This little fella had seen too much shopping that day and was letting Mom (and us) know about it. Unfortunately for him (and the rest of the store), Mom was stuck thee-deep in line and the cashier was having to call for backup over a series of no-price-tag-items. So for a good ten to twelve (felt like 80) minutes while I shopped nearby, Little Angel alternated between screaming at the top of his lungs, sobbing/crying, and asking “But why Mommy?” when he could regain his composure enough to speak.
Oh the Humanity!
After a nine hour work day, traffic commute, and several episodes of checkout shopping drama, I was not very understanding. But enough about me, what about this mother? How was she not going insane? I don’t know given my “no kids” status, but is there a switch that is thrown in Mom’s head on the way home from the hospital with Junior so that she immediately becomes oblivious to the disturbance otherwise known to us inconsiderate single people as children’s fits?
While I’m Making Parents Mad
What is with parents “reasoning” with their toddler? We’re talking about a rugrat who can’t feed himself in an orderly fashion and your response to his screaming and throwing breakable objects at fellow shoppers is “Now that’s not very appropriate, is it? Don’t you want to act more politely now? Please?”
Stop the Madness
Even if we don’t argue discipline and corporal punishment, to me the larger issue is consideration for the people around you. While Mommy may not care that Little Angel is vocally exhibiting self-expression, she should care that Little Angel is making shoppers around her pop another prozac. My point is if you’re not going to discipline your kids, don’t drag them into a public place where everyone is held captive.
Case Study
Another non-parent had similar sentiments and posted one such sign in his café. The result is that it’s caused a huge debate over who has a say in the discipline of children. One famous dead person said something like “your right to swing your fist stops at your neighbor’s nose.” Deep. The Greek translation of that is: “in consideration of others, if you can’t control 'em, leave the kids at home.”
posted by Lee Ann @ 6:54 PM
0 comments
