Brat at the DMV

[blas]

This story was told to me by a coworker.

She was at the DMV the other day renewing her license. After taking a number, she sat down nearby a young mother and her toddler. The young mother was playing a game or power texting on her cell phone, and all of a sudden the toddler went insane.

"SHUT..THAT...PHONE!" the toddler screamed at the mother. The mother ignored the shouting and kept playing with the phone.

"MOM I SAID SHUT THE PHONE!"

Again, she ignores it.

Every time, the child screams louder and louder at her mother to shut the phone. Lord only knows why that bothered the child so much.

Eventually, an employee of the DMV came by, squatted down by the child, and said "Don't you EVER speak to your mother that way!" and glared at the mother and walked away.

Kudos to him, but he could have also addressed the mother as well for just letting the kid get louder and louder.

[Amethyst Hunter]

I'm surprised the mother didn't rip into the employee for daring to correct her Pwecious's behavior...those kind usually believe their kids can do no wrong, even when it's painfully clear that they are.

[Bagboy]

No, what that brat deserved was a good beating. Maybe roman style.

[wagegoth]

They both did. The mother was using the phone to tune out the kid. The kid was tired of being tuned out. Kids need attention more than anything else. The kid was probably really tired of being ignored all the time.

If the mother had just picked up the child and held it while she played it probably would have stopped the whole noisy incident.

[kibbles]

I would be more likely to say kudos to the employee if he had talked to the mother and asked her to try and calm her child. Description said the child was a toddler, so I assume that's around 2 or 3 years old?? So yeah, the employee shouldn't have said anything to the child, he should have approached the mother instead.

[Ree]

No, what that brat deserved was a good beating. Maybe roman style.

Umm...WHAT???

We do not condone violence against people, especially children, no matter how unruly. There is spanking, and then there is advocating beatings, but CS is not the place to debate corporal punishment of children. I'm pretty sure that's why we have www.fratching.com ....in fact, I KNOW that's why we have www.fratching.com.

[marasbaras]

Wouldn't it have been tragic if the kid had ripped the phone out of her hands and stomped it to little bits?

[blas]

I don't think that'd be out of the question. A lot of people my age already have one or two kids, and let me tell you, kids do fire back these days. I mean, my friend Kelly, her daughter Lisa is very well behaved for the most part, but she has had random fits where she all of a sudden outbursts "MOMMY, SHUT UP!"....it's just odd...no idea where she got it from. She's yelled at me too, to shut up. I just crouched down to her level and shouted "NO!" back. She just laughed and stopped after that. It's interesting.

[DesignFox]

Kid's do come up with the strangest things...when my brother was 2 if I told him to do something he didn't like, he'd threaten to "throw me out the window".

It didn't help that I was 13 and the first time he said it I laughed uncontrollably...

I think the kid just wanted some attention. Mommy dearest should have gotten off of her damn phone and paid attention to her child!

[PepperElf]

I think the kid just wanted some attention. Mommy dearest should have gotten off of her damn phone and paid attention to her child!

perhaps. but... at the same time, kids do need to learn that they can't always be the center of attention. Sure, it's OK to ignore them sometimes cos it's part of the process of learning "I'm not the center of the universe."

but... when they get to that point, where they're SCREAMING? No... that's not the time to ignore the kid...that's the time when the kid learns the concept of "acceptable behavior in public" and that "yes, Mommy will take me home instantly if I can't behave and then i'll be in BIG trouble."

another thing i love about japan. the kids here are quiet. they laugh and chatter, etc, but the only time i've ever seen one close to screaming was at a park where the kids were allowed to run around and be noisy.

maybe that's something parents in the US should consider - and what mom did to me and sis when we were growing up.... we weren't allowed to act up in public. we had to get it out of our system at home... if we did it in public, it turned into the "we're going home now and you're in trouble" thing.

Maybe roman style.

i'll prolly go to hell for this one but i don't think that's an unnatural mental reaction. obviously we can't really do it but... there's nothing horrible about looking at some jerk's screaming kids and wishing you could make them shut up. as long as it's just a thought and not an action.

like the time i saw some lady in walmart with her screaming kid (i want this! i want that! mommy!!!!!!!) I'll confess i was tempted to scare the kid a little - i forget exactly how though. Instead i just did my shopping and tried to avoid the little demon.

[DesignFox]

but... when they get to that point, where they're SCREAMING? No... that's not the time to ignore the kid...that's the time when the kid learns the concept of "acceptable behavior in public" and that "yes, Mommy will take me home instantly if I can't behave and then i'll be in BIG trouble."

That's more what I was getting at. You put in the missing details for me. Kids do need to learn that they aren't the center of the universe, but at the same time, you can't go out in public and expect to sit on your phone and totally ignore your children. There has to be a balance both for you and your child.

[Bagboy]

You know I was joking about the roman style punishment?

I would have spanked the kid.

[digilight]

Am I the only one who see's a future for this kid in some type of retail establishment. Imagine in 15-20 years working at a bank/sears/quickymart/whatever and screaming a customer to "Shut that phone off". I see it as the kid trying to train the mother!