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Background: I see some pretty crappy parents. I used to be a teachers aide (working with learning disabilities as well as mental and physical disabilities), but got out of the job because of the atrocious pay, and the fact that public schools in my state have a habit of hiring stay at home mums to come in and do a job they were horribly under prepared for, unqualified for, and often half-assed. I'd see parents refuse to get their child tested for learning disabilities (or get help for their kids with actual diagnosed behavioral/mental/learning disorders) because 'RAARGH HOW DARE YOU THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CHILD HE IS A PERFECT DARLING GENIUS! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! YOU'RE NOT A PARENT YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND!"
Still hate the last two sentences there, because hey, just because I don't have my own kids doesn't make me a brainless idiot when it comes to interacting with them, not to mention the years of training I had to go through to do so professionally.
I still interact with them in retail now! I haven't even broken one yet!
Every year, I used to mentally make a "Parent of the Year" award for people who were just astoundingly bad at the whole "not being a raging douche-canoe to their own kids" thing. I expected I'd have to stop while working retail due to less material.
I was wrong. So very wrong. Without fail, Latekin's Mother of the Year Award goes to:
Badmum. Badmum looks like a maybe 30yr old socialite type of lady. Expensive everything, from haircut to heels. (Incidentally, these seem like a bad shoe choice in a hardware store...6inch heels and sawdust=sprained ankle. We have signs about it and all.) She's really aloof, sneers at a lot of the other customers and TM's and generally gives off less than a sterling impression of herself.
The story, featuring:
Badmum: SC
Latekin: ME
Oldest Kid (10yr old boy): KID1
Middle Kid (6yr old boy): KID2
Youngest Kid (4yr old girl): KID3
KID2 is sitting with KID3 on the bottom of one of our carts as mum is shopping. Ever since he and KID3 got out of the playground, he's been crying and trying to tell SC something about his feet as she puts on his shoes. KID3 has, when opportunity presented itself, been pulling KID2's hair and biting his arm. KID1 just looks vaguely bewildered and tired. I see this all as I'm walking past the playground to come back from break.
KID1: "Mum, KID2's upset."
SC: "He's always upset about something."
KID2: *Gets bitten again, kicks sister.*
SC: "Leave your sister alone! At least she knows how to behave!"
KID2 gets bitten, HARD on the face by KID3 (SC had stopped paying attention because she'd seen our clearance shelves), and promptly starts screaming and crying and kicking his feet all over the place. SC takes KID3 off the trolley and carries her, and does absolutely nothing about her actual distressed kid. She just blithely pushes the trolley around store. As I get back to monitoring self sever, I hear them migrating around store, able to locate the department they're in due to the unholy level of screaming KID2 is doing in said department.
About an hour and a half later, the brood turns up at self serve. KID2 is still wailing like a banshee that stepped on a lego, KID1 is looking distressed and KID3 is smacking KID2 in the face as SC starts doing her scanning in.
KID1: "Mum, KID3 is slapping KID2."
SC: *sounding bored* "All of you stop acting like a bunch of children." *Goes back to scanning in shopping.*
KID2 and KID2: *Not stopping.*
Me: *In best teachers aide 'not having anymore of this nonsense' voice* "If you two don't cut out this absolutely silly behavior, neither of you, and I mean it, will get a balloon and KID1 will."
KID2: *Stops wailing and looks shocked.*
KID3: *Sits down like she's been stunned.*
SC: *Glares daggers at me like I just threatened their very lives.*
KID2: "My feet hurt..."
Yup, that's literally what started the crying. His feet hurt, and no wonder..
SC: "Well for gods sake, you put your shoes on the wrong feet! KID1, fix it for him, since he's apparently incapable of doing anything himself."
KID1: *Looks at me in confusion.*
Me: *Helps KID1 fix KID2's shoe issue.*
KID2: *Is happy now, all three kids get a balloon.*
KID3: *Still looking stunned sitting on trolley.*
Now, at this point I'm kinda irritated, since the lady had put the shoes on her kid herself, and is now blaming him when she screwed it up. She's also expected KID1 to fix her mess, despite the fact he's apparently got left/right issues with his shoes himself. He'd never bothered putting them back on after the playground and he can't tell which one of his brothers shoes go on which foot. Also, goddamn it lady, your kid has been yelling about his feet for over an hour, you couldn't spare goddamn five minutes to check what the issue was?
SC: *Finishes purchasing and looks at me like I just suggested she partake in a very specific sex act with a barnyard animal.*
"You there!"
Me: "Yes?"
SC: "Don't you dare try to parent my kids! You're a judgmental little bitch and I don't need your attitude! You don't know what you're doing because you're not a parent and you wouldn't understand!"
SC: *To KID1 to 3* "And you lot! I should have dumped you in your fathers custody when I had the chance, you're ruining my fucking life!"
After that lovely little bombshell, SC flounces off with her shopping, and KID1 and KID2...but leaves KID3 sitting stunned on the trolley. Doesn't take long before KID3 has recovered from actually being told off, and she begins wandering around the store. At some point she bites some other customers kid and gets a telling off by that kids annoyed dad. Consoles herself by tearing apart our Christmas lights display. No damage, but crap everywhere.
SC comes back ten minutes later. She'd been loading her shopping in the car and didn't notice she was down one kid until she'd gone to put the kids in the car (the shopping was more important and therefor had to be loaded in first). She gets KID3, but has left KID1 and KID2 running around the carpark! The parking lot, which by the way is on the intersection of a highway and a main road! We know they weren't in the car, because several customers came in really upset that they'd nearly turned two little boys into road pizza. SC does not give a single shit as she piles her kids in her Jeep and drives away.
Mother of the goddamn year.
Still hate the last two sentences there, because hey, just because I don't have my own kids doesn't make me a brainless idiot when it comes to interacting with them, not to mention the years of training I had to go through to do so professionally.
I still interact with them in retail now! I haven't even broken one yet!
Every year, I used to mentally make a "Parent of the Year" award for people who were just astoundingly bad at the whole "not being a raging douche-canoe to their own kids" thing. I expected I'd have to stop while working retail due to less material.
I was wrong. So very wrong. Without fail, Latekin's Mother of the Year Award goes to:
Badmum. Badmum looks like a maybe 30yr old socialite type of lady. Expensive everything, from haircut to heels. (Incidentally, these seem like a bad shoe choice in a hardware store...6inch heels and sawdust=sprained ankle. We have signs about it and all.) She's really aloof, sneers at a lot of the other customers and TM's and generally gives off less than a sterling impression of herself.
The story, featuring:
Badmum: SC
Latekin: ME
Oldest Kid (10yr old boy): KID1
Middle Kid (6yr old boy): KID2
Youngest Kid (4yr old girl): KID3
KID2 is sitting with KID3 on the bottom of one of our carts as mum is shopping. Ever since he and KID3 got out of the playground, he's been crying and trying to tell SC something about his feet as she puts on his shoes. KID3 has, when opportunity presented itself, been pulling KID2's hair and biting his arm. KID1 just looks vaguely bewildered and tired. I see this all as I'm walking past the playground to come back from break.
KID1: "Mum, KID2's upset."
SC: "He's always upset about something."
KID2: *Gets bitten again, kicks sister.*
SC: "Leave your sister alone! At least she knows how to behave!"
KID2 gets bitten, HARD on the face by KID3 (SC had stopped paying attention because she'd seen our clearance shelves), and promptly starts screaming and crying and kicking his feet all over the place. SC takes KID3 off the trolley and carries her, and does absolutely nothing about her actual distressed kid. She just blithely pushes the trolley around store. As I get back to monitoring self sever, I hear them migrating around store, able to locate the department they're in due to the unholy level of screaming KID2 is doing in said department.
About an hour and a half later, the brood turns up at self serve. KID2 is still wailing like a banshee that stepped on a lego, KID1 is looking distressed and KID3 is smacking KID2 in the face as SC starts doing her scanning in.
KID1: "Mum, KID3 is slapping KID2."
SC: *sounding bored* "All of you stop acting like a bunch of children." *Goes back to scanning in shopping.*
KID2 and KID2: *Not stopping.*
Me: *In best teachers aide 'not having anymore of this nonsense' voice* "If you two don't cut out this absolutely silly behavior, neither of you, and I mean it, will get a balloon and KID1 will."
KID2: *Stops wailing and looks shocked.*
KID3: *Sits down like she's been stunned.*
SC: *Glares daggers at me like I just threatened their very lives.*
KID2: "My feet hurt..."
Yup, that's literally what started the crying. His feet hurt, and no wonder..
SC: "Well for gods sake, you put your shoes on the wrong feet! KID1, fix it for him, since he's apparently incapable of doing anything himself."
KID1: *Looks at me in confusion.*
Me: *Helps KID1 fix KID2's shoe issue.*
KID2: *Is happy now, all three kids get a balloon.*
KID3: *Still looking stunned sitting on trolley.*
Now, at this point I'm kinda irritated, since the lady had put the shoes on her kid herself, and is now blaming him when she screwed it up. She's also expected KID1 to fix her mess, despite the fact he's apparently got left/right issues with his shoes himself. He'd never bothered putting them back on after the playground and he can't tell which one of his brothers shoes go on which foot. Also, goddamn it lady, your kid has been yelling about his feet for over an hour, you couldn't spare goddamn five minutes to check what the issue was?
SC: *Finishes purchasing and looks at me like I just suggested she partake in a very specific sex act with a barnyard animal.*
"You there!"
Me: "Yes?"
SC: "Don't you dare try to parent my kids! You're a judgmental little bitch and I don't need your attitude! You don't know what you're doing because you're not a parent and you wouldn't understand!"
SC: *To KID1 to 3* "And you lot! I should have dumped you in your fathers custody when I had the chance, you're ruining my fucking life!"
After that lovely little bombshell, SC flounces off with her shopping, and KID1 and KID2...but leaves KID3 sitting stunned on the trolley. Doesn't take long before KID3 has recovered from actually being told off, and she begins wandering around the store. At some point she bites some other customers kid and gets a telling off by that kids annoyed dad. Consoles herself by tearing apart our Christmas lights display. No damage, but crap everywhere.
SC comes back ten minutes later. She'd been loading her shopping in the car and didn't notice she was down one kid until she'd gone to put the kids in the car (the shopping was more important and therefor had to be loaded in first). She gets KID3, but has left KID1 and KID2 running around the carpark! The parking lot, which by the way is on the intersection of a highway and a main road! We know they weren't in the car, because several customers came in really upset that they'd nearly turned two little boys into road pizza. SC does not give a single shit as she piles her kids in her Jeep and drives away.
Mother of the goddamn year.
People really don't like being called out on their BS, but it sure feels good to do so!
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