This kid could've screamed for England...

[Lehk]

A rather nasty woman swatted her hand at him (I can only assume she was trying to stop him for me) with far too much oomph and knocked him backward.

His head hit the tile floor hard with a gnarly CRACK.

some biatch assaulted your child and knocked him on his head.... and you allowed this person to leave the building alive?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

some biatch assaulted your child and knocked him on his head.... and you allowed this person to leave the building alive?

I was thinking the same thing. I can see myself in this situation, and all I can say is that if I described what would be my most likely response here, the thread would probably be ended and locked.

Put it this way...if I had to encourage my child to breathe because someone put their hands on her, the paramedics would later be encouraging what was left of that person to breathe, if you follow me.

[Brighid45]

I think what bothers me more is when a parent makes no effort to stop the screeching. Let's face it--kids get cranky or tired, they get grabby with merchandise etc, and they start screaming. If I see a mom or dad trying to quiet the child or working on getting them out of the store, I can live with the noise. But if the kid is screaming its head off and mom or dad is a few feet away yakking or otherwise totally ignoring them, THEN I get mad.

Parents aren't perfect--they get fed up, tired, or burned out (sometimes all three and more at the same time! *lol*), but they did decide to have kids. That means teaching them to behave in public, and that includes NO SCREAMING, unless some stranger is trying to drag the kid away. JMO.

[Rapscallion]

Part of the problem is that some children will scream for attention. If they learn that it gains them attention, they'll keep doing it - whether the attention is hugs and cuddles or a swatted behind.

The best way, from what I understand, to deal with this is to ignore said obnoxious behaviour and let them realise it won't work.

Sucks for everyone nearby, though...

Rapscallion

[SwanJun]

some biatch assaulted your child and knocked him on his head.... and you allowed this person to leave the building alive?

To be honest with you...I was more concerned with getting my little guy to breathe and get him out of there rather than knocking some stupid skank off her ass.

Hubby missed the exchange because he was trying to find the little guy a Hawaiian shirt on the other side of the store. (because every little boy has to own at least 1)

I was a mess, myself....It terrified me. So, okay...I am a bad mommy for not beating the bitch senseless...but I just had to get the two of us out of there - he needed fresh air, not for me to hand him off to hubby so I could go medieval on her.

But don't you think I haven't kicked myself for that oversight daily since.

Truthfully, I don't know if I'd even recognize her. My attention was on him as he ran away, and then on him on the ground....And then calming him...

Hey, I'm new at the mommy thing....I'm not that good at multi-tasking just yet...

SJ

[Tria]

Some of us really do try to keep our little spawnlings in check.

I don't think the original poster means anything against the parents that are TRYING to keep their rugrats in check, just the ones that ignore them.

[CanadaGirl]

Babies crying like that get me to the point where I will just walk up to the mother and ask her to quiet her child or leave because it is disrupting the entire store and all the other customers.

[batmoody]

The ones that anooy me the most are the kids who will scream and whine and cry in the checkstand becasue they want that bag of skittles. The parents say no over and over, the kid gets louder and louder, and then the parents let him have it! You are this close to being out of the store! Let him scream, don't give in! Thats why these kids keep doing that!

[Mixed Bag]

A rather nasty woman swatted her hand at him (I can only assume she was trying to stop him for me) with far too much oomph and knocked him backward.

His head hit the tile floor hard with a gnarly CRACK.

Well.... My little guy started to wail....BUT...the wail where he simply cannot take a breath.

I was standing in the middle of the store holding my little guy, with my child not breathing for a good 30 seconds, panicked because...well...he wasn't breathing.

Rather than anyone asking me if I needed help, I was glared at by all there in a manner to suggest I was an evil parent.

Of all the scenarios this site sees, this is the one I'd most want to be present for--aside from maybe being able to help, to see the looks on their faces when, if you were too shocked to say anything later, I or some other customer commandeer the PA for

I try to see both sides, and was wondering when I'd feel justified in using some of those.

[Seanette]

Friday night at WallyWorld. I'm already very tired (my work day runs 12 hours if you count commute time, which I do), DH is his usual grouchy self about the checkout lines (OK, I'm not thrilled either), and the lines are moving at the customary glacial pace. There was a child four or five lanes away throwing a tantrum I had initially heard at the other end of the store, nearly. This little brat (and keep in mind this comes from someone who loves small children) kept shrieking and howling for at least twenty minutes straight, and did Mom bother to do anything? Well, if you consider laughing about her child's hysteria while she was dawdling her way through checking out (I watched her. She was definitely taking her sweet time, with at least thirty other customers offering assorted unpleasant facial expressions and some rather pointed commentary about the noise level, etc.), she did. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sunsetsky]

I get kids like that all the time. Once there was a father teasing his kid. Everytime he poked his son, the kid would scream bloody murder. And the guy kept doing it too! It really pissed me off. I have also seen kids scream for attention or because their parents told them that they couldn't have any candy.

One woman bought her daughter a candy bar. She told me if she didn't then her daughter would start screaming. I was also eating out somewhere with my grandparents and sister a couple years ago. By us was two women and a little girl (maybe 4 years old). The little brat kept doing blood curdling screams and then laughed. It hurt and I was ready to scream back myself. Luckily they went away after a little bit.

I've also seen kids hit their parents because they didn't get what they want. One mom looked like she was going to kick his ass later.

[rdp78]

I agree.

Of all the scenarios this site sees, this is the one I'd most want to be present for--aside from maybe being able to help, to see the looks on their faces when, if you were too shocked to say anything later, I or some other customer commandeer the PA for

I try to see both sides, and was wondering when I'd feel justified in using some of those.

I was very appalled that no one helped out SwanJun or even find that woman who knocked her kid down (I would defiantly call security on her a@@). I mean that's just not right and they're lucky that SwanJun's little boy is okay. If it got worse then that store might find a lawsuit on their hands and that woman would be booked big time.

Yeah, I had some little brats come in my store recently and some are discpline but others aren't. I do have a few angels come in the store as well, the older ones help other people and the little ones are behaving themselves. I have also seen parents bring in thier sleeping babies and they seem to wake up by the time they are ready to check out then I'm going say something as well as stop them.

The issue on spanking I've seen it done in my store a couple of times(always by the parent, the child isn't hurt) and I don't see any problem with it since the kids was acting up badly. Anyway I grew up with spanking as punishment(mainly they were just threats from what I remember) and in my area spanking is still an acceptable form of punishment by the majority of people(quite hillybilly, lower-class). Now if the child is being spanked by someone that isn't their parent (no matter how bad a kid acts you don't lay a hand on him/her if you don't know who they are) or they are spanked for no reason well, for just being a kid I would have a problem. Also if I notice it hurts the kid very badly then I also have problem.

[appliance god]

As a parent of a 19 month old, I thankfully have yet to experience the mega tantrum from him. Alas I have seen many such tantrums in my line of work (and not all of them have been children). I do get that kids can and do get tantrums as they are trying to find their place in the world and determine what is and is not acceptable behavior.

As I understand it, it is a parents job to teach them that. I've never been angry at a kid for screaming...it's not the kids fault as these parents need to step up and get the kid to SHUT THE HELL UP!

I only hope that when the enevitable does occur and my little guy gives me the public hissy fit from hell I can get him to be quiet...and if I can't, I'll just get him away from wherever he is. Pretty simple isn't it? I hope?

[Crazyredhead]

Part of the problem is that some children will scream for attention. If they learn that it gains them attention, they'll keep doing it - whether the attention is hugs and cuddles or a swatted behind.

The best way, from what I understand, to deal with this is to ignore said obnoxious behaviour and let them realise it won't work.

Sucks for everyone nearby, though...

Rapscallion

Actually, Raps is right. That is the way the experts say to deal with a tantrum. My older kids know not to throw a tantrum in the store, it didn't take more than two times to learn. If they started up they would get there ass's wacked, and they would shut up, along with the warning that I will really give them something to cry about if it continues, and they would get embarrased in the middle of the store in front of everyone.

My 20 month old has finally discovered he has a strong set of pipes and has started the screetching and screaming thing. But he knows that if he does he will get his ass whooped. I have no qualms about smacking my kid in the store. I have slapped my daughter acrossed the mouth for calling my a f***ing Bitch very loudly, for not getting her something. The slap resounded through the aisles and her face was quite red. And I have swatted my kids across the ass for making a fuss/scene. Needless to say, they don't do it anymore.

I have had a couple of people try to come up to me to say something, but the look that I give them usually stops them.

Please, don't start up on me about child abuse.
This is what is wrong with today's kids. They are being talked to death. Talking to my kids is like talking to the wall, in one ear and out the other. My mother did it to me and I am not a homicidal maniac (that we know of).

[chainedbarista]

no cries of abuse here; my son gets pretty mouthy (he's at the angsty stage with the 'pity party, table for one action thrown in frequently), but he also knows i have no trouble with smacking him when he gets out of line.

there's a huge difference between a smack/pop and an outright beating, but some people choose not to distinguish it.