What would you have done?

[packrat]

Elle, yep, those freak outs are the ones that I have JD or mom take the kid(s) to the truck. I don''t recall either of my kids having a tantrum of any magnitude in public. London was an E-A-S-Y child. When she''d get mad, she used to fling herself to the floor and glare at us..after bonking her head a couple times, she learned to just lay herself gently on the floor and glare. We''d look at her, smile, sometimes giggle or laugh at her..and continue whatever we were doing. If in a store, we''d pull her to the side of the aisle so as not to impede traffic, and one of us would stay w/her while the other continued shopping. She wouldn''t cry or scream or kick..just lay there and stare..well, glare.

Our son now...he has lungs like nobodies business and he has the wherewithal to power a space station with his screams and stubbornness. He has been anything BUT easy, and now I know why I used to see moms in stores redfaced and hair standing on end. I AM that mom now.

It''s funny that people scream and screech and there is a great gnashing of teeth over being tolerant of everyone and everything...but you put a child having a bad day in a room with some people...not so fun when the shoes on the other foot. "you must be tolerant of ME but I completely do NOT have to be tolerant of YOU".

 

[Bia]

Date: 9/3/2009 3:25:23 PM
Author: elledizzy5
Hmm...

Well, this is a non-parent view....

If my kid was in the middle of a rocking-god-awful temper tantrum, I''d leave the store. I realize that is a HUGE inconvenience for parents, but I''d do it in hopes of preventing it in the future. If it''s not tolerated EVER, there''s a good chance that they''ll learn after it happens a few times. Obviously you can''t always control your kid 100% of the time, but you can make a big to-do about having to leave the store because of their terrible behavior. It worked on me, I rarely had a temper tantrum as a child.

That said, if someone threatened to shut my kid up for me, I would not keep my kid around the guy. It''s not safe! I don''t care what battle I''m fighting, I don''t stay around unstable people. If someone wanted to steal my car, and threatened me with bodily harm, I''m not going to be stubborn and stand my ground because I have a right to my own car. I''d get to a safer situation, and notify someone, possibly press charges because of the threat. Why would you keep your kid around someone who physically threatened you or your child? That''s just not smart.

If I had no indication from someone that they were unstable, and my crying kid provoked violence without warning and someone hit my kid... I think I''d just react. I don''t think it would be a conscious decision, it would be my primal instinct to protect my baby.

Another non-parent view (I totally sweat you

)

I agree with this. I tried to pull a screaming fit on my mom once at the store - even went as far as to throw a jar of something (something I can''t recall at the moment, but know that it made a big mess) on the floor. My mom took me out of the store (I probably got spanked) and basically told me I would never go shopping with her again until I could behave properly. She meant it too! And I learned my lesson. Yes, not all children are the same, but my point is, my mother laid down the rules and I had to abide.

However, in this case, if someone physically harms my child without warning, they are, in return, going to provoke something violent in me and whether they know it or not, they''re going to regret it.

 

[LilyKat]

Honestly, I think the mother did the right thing by screaming at him and for help, rather than attacking him back. Retaliating with violence against someone unstable enough to hit a child is NOT a good idea - you and your child might end up getting hurt much worse.

 

[Tuckins1]

That man would have left minus a few teeth...