Should I have kicked him out?

[GuardingYourLife]

I love kids, and I love kids with special needs. Regardless of whether he did have special needs or not, I would have told him why he couldn't come behind the counter, and if it wasn't busy I would have told the dad "you can lift him up so he can see what we do back here" and if the dad did I would have explained to the kid everything we were doing. He was obviously pretty curious!

With the soda machine thing, I would have just used a firm but not mean voice to tell him that he was not allowed to do that.

With dads like that one, who aren't full-on sucky parents, but more exhausted by the misbehavior, you can "get on their side" by making a comment like "he's a busy one, eh?" and usually you'll get "well, he has ADHD, and he's wearing me out today" or something like that, which gives you a clue on how to handle the situation.

At my job, I'm used to juggling large groups of young kids with ADD, ADHD, Aspberger's and Autism all mixed in with NT (neurotypical, or "normal") kids. You get really used to these sorts of days!

The worst is when you get parents who yell at you, like "my kid has special needs! How dare you tell him to follow the rules you idiot!"

Still, sympathies. I know not everyone loves kids as much as I do, and if you wanted to be a daycare worker, you probably would be, right?

[Seshat]

You are not only entitled, but expected to maintain an eye on safety in your establishment. This family was making that unnecessarily difficult.

This is the point where you might say 'I'll make this a take away order, shall I?'

[Jester]

I honestly think the kid's got ADHD big time.

As a kid I used to be a lot like that--wanting to run around on my own and not sit still, just causing general havoc.

I don't know....I did not have ADHD or ADD, and that precisely describes my behavior as a young boy. I couldn't sit still, I had to check everything out and investigate, I had to go go go go GO.

My mom was very happy that I could be very distracted by a good book or toy.

[42_42_42]

I don't know....I did not have ADHD or ADD, and that precisely describes my behavior as a young boy. I couldn't sit still, I had to check everything out and investigate, I had to go go go go GO.

My mom was very happy that I could be very distracted by a good book or toy.

I have 4 nephews, and while they all have very individual personalities and interests, they have all been busy busy busy little boys around that age. I often joke that ADHD just equals being a boy. It certainly seems that way sometimes.