I'm really feeling tired tonight, so I will continue with the rest of my vacation pictures tomorrow. But, I HAD to write about this.
Tonight I went to do some shopping and while I was at Walmart, there was a kid in the middle of the store having the worlds worst tantrum. This kid was screaming and stomping and the whole nine yards. And even though I didn't know the particulars about what set him off, I wanted to beat him to within an inch of his life! And then I wanted to beat his mother!
Okay, I realize kids have meltdowns all the time for different reasons. And I can understand and sympathize. However, this kid had a voice that came close to fingernails on a chalkboard in terms of being annoying. He kept screaming that he didn't want to leave the store because he was hungry. At one point I believe he screamed at his mother that she was being mean to him and that he would 'tell' on her to someone. And this went on for 15 minutes, at least. And what was the mother trying to do about the situation? She was trying to reason with the kid. She did NOT physically remove him from the store, she did NOT sternly tell him to shut the f*** up, she did NOT swat his butt. I know, I know, if she would have done any of those things, she probably would have been arrested. But still, she needed to deal with this situation in a much better way than trying to 'reason' with the kid. The kid had no desire to be reasoned with and it was doing no amount of good. Actually, the more the mother tried 'talking' to him, the worse he got. The whole thing gave me a massive headache.
Now, all of us who have kids have been through similar situations--there is no avoiding it. But, I sometimes think that many people could completely avoid these things if they planned ahead. First, DON'T take your kid shopping too late at night. They probably are tired and WILL misbehave. (It was almost 10:00 PM, on a school night, when this one took place.) Second, DON'T take your kid shopping when he/she is hungry. Feed them a meal before leaving the house. (Obviously, this kid was hungry, because he kept screaming it to his mother.) And DON'T keep them shopping for things they have no interest in for too long. Kids have short attention spans and they WILL let you know, loudly, that they are bored and not pleased. But I think the best piece of advice I could give to a parent is this: KNOW that this will happen and be prepared. Figure out ahead of time what you will do when your kid has a meltdown--and then follow your plan when 'it' happens.
NOT A Vacation Post
