Little Terror

[Ezio]

Yesterday a mother and her preschool aged son (between 3-6yrs old) were checking out at one of the express lines. The son was screaming at the top of his lungs (looked like mom had denied him something) and I could not make out what he was saying. The one thing I did make out was, "I'm going to kill you mommy!". The mother just smiled and said nothing. The boy preceded to strike out at her (kicking, punching) and she still just smiled and finished the transaction. The cashier had a WTF look on her face.

Hopefully the mom nips this in the bud before he is much older. I do understand some kids with ODD, Autism and other developmental/cognitive disorders can have issues like this, but that kid was scary! I've heard the "I hate you (parental figur)!" before, but usually the adult will say something to the kid, this woman just smiled.

[EvilEmpryss]

Ignoring the screaming is actually a good thing as it doesn't provide any reinforcement for the behavior (even bad attention is good attention), so finishing her purchase and getting the screamer out of the store ASAP was the best choice.

Ignoring the physical attack is something else entirely. THAT needed to be nipped in the bud immediately. He's small now, but ten years from now he may be bigger and stronger and a little fist to the thigh could become a big fist to the face.

I give mom props for being cool and not giving in to the tantrum, but she needs to get the violence under control NOW.

[pinky]

Sounds like he needed a spanking.

[Sandiercy]

Sounds like he needed a spanking.

If I ever did that to my parents, I would not be able to sit down for a week.

[morgana]

If I ever did that to my parents, I wouldn't be here today . . .

[AccountingDrone]

Sounds like he needed a spanking.

Sounds like he needed to be picked up by the back of his jeans and held safely out of the way until everybody was done shopping and in the car leaving for home.

[MadMike]

OK folks, the parenting discussion, particularly the part about whether or not spanking is a valid technique, doesn't belong here. If you wish to discuss this sort of thing, take it to Fratching.

[South Texan]

I do understand some kids with ODD, Autism and other developmental/cognitive disorders can have issues like this

Speaking as the father of a child with autism, I can assure you that such behavior is NOT excused or tollerated because of that condition.

I am willing to bet there was a parental "reaction" when they were out of the store.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Speaking as a person on the autism spectrum, I can certainly say that my parents would not have allowed me to act that way as a child, ever. O_o

I once heard a little boy call his mother a bitch for not buying him sweets. O_o Mum just smiled at him and said nothing. I would have never dared call my mum that kind of name!

[Argabarga]

Junior probably got his just desserts when Mommy got him home

The worst days as a kid I remember having were the ones where I made an inappropriate scene in public, and Mom told me "wait till we get home"

[MoonCat]

The one time my son called me a bitch in anger was the last time. That just doesn't fly around me. The odd time my son acted out in public I would literally stop what I was doing - including grocery shopping - and carry him out of the store so I could take him home. I was not subjecting anybody to that sort of nonsense. As much as I hated leaving a cart of groceries for somebody to put away, I'm sure it was preferable to him being a screaming little turd during the entire shopping trip. Honestly, a screaming child is something that makes me grit my teeth more than anything else...especially when the parent is doing absolutely nothing to deal with it.

Speaking as someone who has left a store, a bus and a subway train due to ear-piercing shrieks and temper tantrums (not mine )--THANK YOU!!

[Lace Neil Singer]

^Ditto. High pitched shrieking makes my head hurt; I understand that it can't be avoided sometimes, but I feel better about it if the mother is making an effort to correct the behaviour.

I will also say something about "wait til you get home". That only works when a child is old enough to reason and understand about future events. When they are young, they only understand punishment now. A friend of mine once took her daughter out of a supermarket six times cuz she was acting up; eventually, the girl realised that screaming and tantrumming was only making the shopping trip last longer and wasn't going to get her what she wanted, ie going home. XD Said girl now is very sweet and well behaved.

[Ben_Who]

Junior probably got his just desserts when Mommy got him home

The worst days as a kid I remember having were the ones where I made an inappropriate scene in public, and Mom told me "wait till we get home"

Oh, it was a dark, dark day for me when my mother threatened to pull me into the ladies' room.

She'd never raise her voice at me in public, but if she managed to get me in private, I knew that the rest of the day would not go well for me. There would be all manner of recrimination. It ranked right up there with "wait until your father gets home" on the scale of teaching children that actions have consequences and those consequences are not always positive.

And, as God is my witness, I never saw the inside of a ladies' room. It was extraordinarily effective.

[Shalom]

I once heard a little boy call his mother a bitch for not buying him sweets. O_o Mum just smiled at him and said nothing. I would have never dared call my mum that kind of name!

Calling your own mother a bitch is shooting yourself in the foot. I mean you can go your whole life without getting a straight line like that.

"Well if I'm a bitch, what does that make you . . . ?"

[dalesys]

"Well if I'm a bitch, what does that make you . . . ?"

If your mama calls you a momzer...