"Kids will be kids!" ~ Retail Story Time: Under 18 SC Edition!

[Terza]

We got incredibly lucky with DD, in that she was/is not prone to screaming fits. Unless she was tired, but in that case I was usually trying to calm her down not ignore her.

The only time she got close to a tantrum was over a wooden alphabet block set in a trolley when she was coming up on 2. Since the set was in a charity shop for £5 and new sets were in the region of £25 - 35 (depending where you bought) I 'gave in'. But her tantrum consisted of "I want, I want" and not letting go of the trolley, and she agreed that it would be her only present (literally! I said "If I get you this, it will be your only present from us. You won't get anything else." and she said ok. And on her birthday that's what happened, and she didn't seem to care/notice).

I think it helped that we could go into the toyshops and look at the toys and if she wanted anything it would have to go on her Christmas list, so right from the start she was used to waiting for a special occasion, and if she did get anything straight away it was because she'd been good/treat for a long journey or similar.

[BrenDAnn]

I have a regular customer, who has three kids. When he comes in, it's literally like a storm of kids shrieking and running around. What does he do to control them? He whines at them. Yep. Dad of the Year thinks whining "Stttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahp" and "get over heeeeeeeeere" is sufficient parenting. All I can do is shake my head every time it happens. As for me? Well, I was raised by a woman who wasn't afraid to use the back of her hand, let's just say that. She was far from abusive, for the record. She just knew damn well how to get me to stop throwing a fit and be quiet!

[SimonF12009]

When I was younger, both my parents worked, so a lot of the time I was with my grandparents. One time, can't remember what I did, but it must have been bad, coz my grandparents adored me, I was hung by the back of my shirt on a hanger on the wall. That was the only time that happened!

[Kanalah]

I work part time at a school. Most of my job is to make sure the kids behave. We give them one warning and then notify their teacher. The teacher then punishes them. Some teachers make them sit out part of recess, some teachers tell the parents.

The rules are pretty simple. That doesn't stop kids from not listening, or from trying to argue with me. I 'make" at least one kid cry every day. After a while they seem to learn that I don't take crap, and sucking up to me doesn't work.

Take today for example. 9 kids got in trouble today. The older ones understood what they did was wrong and apologized. The younger ones screamed, cried, said they hated me or that I was picking on them.

What did I do about it? I got a piece of leftover chocolate cake from lunch today

[MoonCat]

Bet you anything she does that because she's learned that anything like a normal request will be ignored by her parents.

She does it because Princess Bitchface, her mom, also deals with every issue the same way. When she wants her son, she screams his name at the top of her lungs. She and the Blob, the younger kid's father, bicker constantly, and when Princess is really pissed she screams her head off at everybody. Kid's just copying what she sees/hears.

My sister is convinced that the kid has developmental problems because Princess smoked like a chimney the whole time she was pregnant, and it's well-known that babies of heavy smokers often have health issues. Personally I think the main problem is that Princess is clueless and is a horrible role model (drug use, screaming, etc.)

[notalwaysright]

My sister is convinced that the kid has developmental problems because Princess smoked like a chimney the whole time she was pregnant, and it's well-known that babies of heavy smokers often have health issues. Personally I think the main problem is that Princess is clueless and is a horrible role model (drug use, screaming, etc.)

Whhhhhat? That's just the worst. But I completely agree about kids copying parents. I hear parents treat their kids like crap. The parents act more childish than the kid. My mom treated me respectfully, she didn't snap at me, or humiliate me in front of my friends. She wasn't wishy-washy, though. If she said to do something, she was nice about it, however it didn't even cross my mind to start talking back about it! I hear kids at work argue over everything, and win...

I have a relative who basically thinks that his job as "parent" is just to make sure his kid is fed, clothed, and housed. If anyone suggests different he will reply the title of this thread.

[RealUnimportant]

I don't tend to have too much direct contact with sucky kids, but the ones I do experience are the screamers. Either they're yelling at each other, or the parental unit that's more interested in their phone than their spawn, or (most tolerably) squealing with joy at seeing the trains. Sadly this last group is least common; I leave it as an exercise for the reader to work out which group is most common...

[mathnerd]

Kids will be kids. That's why parents need to be parents.

[jedimaster91]

Kids will be kids. That's why parents need to be parents.

Yet another reason this site needs a like button. I've seen it a lot with my friends who have kids. They don't parent. It's all talk and no follow through and the kids know it. When I was little, if Mama Jedi corrected you once, you shaped up fast or else. And if I talked to my parents the way my friends' kids talk to them sometimes (especially Mama Jedi. Papa Jedi is really a big softie), I wouldn't be alive to type this post.

We had dinner with some friends the other night and it made me miss the days of kids' tables and adult tables. Oldest can. not. shut. up. He has to be talking constantly and asking the most inane questions. I don't think the kid is being deliberately obnoxious; I think he has some kind of mental thing going on and he literally can't help himself. Both of his parents are pretty quiet by nature, so I dunno where he learned to be such a motor mouth. His younger brother is a little behind with talking, so he gets frustrated and screams a lot when he can't communicate. Though he's getting much better with saying more words and has learned a few basic signs that have really been helpful. The baby seems normal so far, but man does she have an attitude.

It just makes me more determined that my little Minion will not be that way. Whatever it takes, he will be a well-mannered and polite child if it kills me.

[Slave to the Phone]

Parents who don't parent are the bane of my life. I have moved the plugs to my computer between the side of the desk and the cube wall and parents still let their kids play with them. I've had kids try to climb my bookcase to get to stuff on the upper shelves and the parents just ignore them.

I've gotten pretty passive-aggressive about it. I will stop what I'm doing and tell the parent(s) that if they can't control their child, maybe they should come back another day. This tends to get their attention because they want their food stamps right now. If the kid unplugs my computer, I just shrug, plug everything back in and wait 5 minutes until everything resets then start the process over again. I get paid by the hour and I'm going to be there 8 hours a day anyhow...they are the ones who want to go home.

[Kittykat]

My kids would soooo be sitting on sore butts if they acted like that. I have six, and they each have had ONE public tantrum as toddlers. That's because I, as the PARENT have made them aware it was NOT acceptable behavior.

[Catwoman2965]

Kids are kids, thus it's wrong for us to want to murder them. IMO, there should be exceptions. Like the really annoying/brats ones who get great joy from tormenting us. You know, that kid who has a high chance of being a convicted felon in 15 years? I do in general enjoy children but there are certain children who I find most unpleasant. Maybe it's because I was raised by parents who were good at controlling unruly children and minimizing the torment they inflict on society, so I have a higher standard for children and their parents in general? I'll start with stories my mom and dad have told me of my childhood when I was the brat at the store and how the punished me and kept me contained.

Young Fly story #1: Young fly was at Disney Store with mommy at the age of about two. My mom describes this as my worst incident. I saw something I really liked but it was expensive and big so my mom said no. I didn't like this and went into brat mode. She removed me from the situation, humiliated me once we were outside, got me to shut the up, and set me straight. She said something to the effect that I was being "A big baby and no one likes big babies. No one wanted to be friends with big babies. Did I want everyone to dislike me and think I was a big baby? Did I want to have no friends?" She told me how I humiliated myself in front of all those people. It worked. Young fly got the message that public temper tantrums made young fly disliked. When I see parents do this, I applaud them. Yay mommy! Yay daddy! A++!
Young Fly story #2: Young fly was an obnoxiously hyper child. So mamma and dada fly started hiring a baby sitter to stay home with me while they did errands for the sake of humanity. Or if possible, one would stay home with young fly while the other did errands. Mama and dada fly didn't take young fly to civilized or quiet places until young fly was ready. Good job mommy and daddy fly!

I admit to my own brattiness but alas, I was contained and sufficiently guided to being a decent human being. I would like to thank my parents for teaching me not to humiliate myself and not murdering me. Which I probably deserved.

NOW, onward with the stories! I will share my own observations later. Right now I have to get ready for a late shift at work. *grumbles*

Your parents sound like mine. I was a bit like that as well, and my parent's solution was to a. remove me from wherever if I was misbehaving, and b. not take me out on boring errands like grocery shopping etc.

And when I did act up, well, there were CONSEQUENCES. my scariest moments were when i'd act up in the car, and mom would pull over, and ask if i wanted to WALK home. Shut me right up!

[Catwoman2965]

My kids would soooo be sitting on sore butts if they acted like that. I have six, and they each have had ONE public tantrum as toddlers. That's because I, as the PARENT have made them aware it was NOT acceptable behavior.

I say this ALL the time. Yes, kids are going to have times where they have meltdowns, or don't always act as they should. HOWEVER, its also up to the parents to make them aware that a. when they don't behave there are consequences. b. FOLLOW THROUGH and c. that certain types of behavior are not acceptable.

That's how i was brought up, and you know what, I turned out ok.

I really cannot stand seeing parents and kids out in public, where the kids are total hellions, and the parents either do nothing, or all you hear is a "don't do that" but the child continues doing that, and the parents don't do squat.

[otter]

My mom actually did make me walk a few times! Of course we were young so she usually followed behind us in the car and watched. Once we were pulled over because of it, the policeman gave us a talking to, told mom we'd learned our lesson, and we went on our way. You knew you screwed up bad if we had to walk. But I think all three of us turned out ok.

[Catwoman2965]

My mom actually did make me walk a few times! Of course we were young so she usually followed behind us in the car and watched. Once we were pulled over because of it, the policeman gave us a talking to, told mom we'd learned our lesson, and we went on our way. You knew you screwed up bad if we had to walk. But I think all three of us turned out ok.

HAHA. Mine never made me actually get out; the threat was enough for me!