SC makes me have to buy a new knee brace

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Well not so much the SC's but the SC's child did.

So I'm in my local Mart of Wall getting a few things for our Memorial Day Dinner and we decide that making Fruity Pebble Treats (like Rice Krispy treats but with Fruity Pebbles) would be a good idea.

Since we are now at the other end of Walmart, I am the one sent to the bakery and cereal aisle to get the needed ingredients.

As I get to the bakery aisle I am flabbergasted at the wide variety of marshmallows that are out there in all sorts of flavors and am wondering where in the hell the marshmallow flavored marshmallows are.

As I'm trying this I am reminded of Dennis Leary and his quest to find Coffee flavored coffee. Wonder why that is? /sarcasm

So as I'm trying to find the plain ordinary marshmallows, something hits me in the knee and hard. It's a little girl who is about 6 years old pushing the cart around while mom and dad are looking for something.

Mom is very quick to apologize and I'm equally as quick to dismiss this as a simple (if painful) accident that happens all the time. Mom tries to get the child to likewise apologize. Child screams "No!" and slams the cart into my knee again. This time I feel something in my knee pull unnaturally as it bends to the left. Not enough to need medical attention (it was still holding weight although limping heavily) but enough that I wanted to get a brace on it.

Mom and now Dad are getting into the battle with the child trying to get her to apologize and are failing as parents...miserably. The child is screaming "No" and screaming at everyone. One of the screams that hit as I found my marshmallows and was starting to walk away was a heart-felt and loud "Fuck you!" as she tried to nail my OTHER leg. Thankfully the dad was able to put a foot out and stop me from being unable to walk for the rest of the weekend (although the wincing on his face said that his crocs were woefully unable to protect his toes from damage).

Now both parents are really upset and really showing their impotence with dealing with this ill-mannered child. They are trying to be really stern with the kid and (I laughingly use the word) "punish" the child.

The only real result is the child screaming "Fuck You!" to her parents, to me, to anyone who passed by and a five pound bag of sugar getting knocked off a shelf and spilled across the floor upon impact. I didn't see what happened next since I had turned the corner and was limping away from this scene at best possible speed.

I know that in this day and age while it is still legal, a good spanking is often frowned upon. But I can think of several punishments that would be effective and not involving physical contact. What these parents were doing was about as effective as attacking a mental health facility with a rubber chicken.

[Micer]

I don't condone smacking the kid... but I certainly would be wrenching that cart away from her, literally picking her up like a sack of potatoes and carrying that monster straight out of the store... maybe getting some trash bags along the way to clear out her room of toys when reaching home.

I'm all for reasoning when the situation calls for it... But ya gotta put your foot down somewhere, ye gods, what were those parents waiting for? A divine heavenly messenger to float down and tell them 'Hey, this sure as hell isn't working out.'?

Still, hope your knee is alright, Mongo!

[Nyoibo]

Hopefully in a few years if that kid doesn't straighten up quick she'll get slapped with an assault charge.

[iradney]

Moved to Sightings.

[Sapphire Silk]

I don't condone smacking the kid... but I certainly would be wrenching that cart away from her, literally picking her up like a sack of potatoes and carrying that monster straight out of the store... maybe getting some trash bags along the way to clear out her room of toys when reaching home.

I'm all for reasoning when the situation calls for it... But ya gotta put your foot down somewhere, ye gods, what were those parents waiting for? A divine heavenly messenger to float down and tell them 'Hey, this sure as hell isn't working out.'?

Still, hope your knee is alright, Mongo!

This is not a situation that calls for reason, because the child was unreasonable. I wouldn't really call the Mom a SC, just a failure as a parent. The clue to the failure comes from her dismissal of Mongo's injury: when you minimize the injuries of others, you send a signal that hurting someone is OK, and it is not.

Micer's solution is probably a good one for an older child. But, if that had been my kid, I would have spanked her right then and there for the 2nd attempt to injure an innocent stranger. Kids have to be corrected immediately . . . it does no good to wait. Six is young enough that once you remove her from the emotional impact of the situation, if you punish her later she won't understand why she is being punished in the first place.

But hindsight is 20/20.

Mongo, I wouldn't have assumed no real damage was done and gotten Mom and Dad's information. It was pretty nice of you to let it go. I hope your knee is OK.

[PepperElf]

The main problem is that the parents LET the child continue to hold the cart and tried to "reason" with her.

What the fuck's wrong with just picking the child up so she can't push the cart anymore? Or with taking her home?


If sis or I had pulled a tantrum like that, Mom would have taken us home right away. We would have been spanked ... and for the swearing, we would have had our mouths washed out with soap.

No matter how much the shopping *had* to get done, Mom would not have permitted us to remain in public if we were acting like that.

[sevendaysky]

I realize that with the severity of the tantrum, something out of the ordinary might have been in play, especially with the parents' ineffective handling of the situation. Sometimes when a child has a disorder/disability that makes them unreasonable/violent the parents may not know exactly how to react or resolve the situation -- or they do know, but can't employ those practices for whatever reason. However, if this is such a case of extenuating circumstances creating a perfect storm that put Mongo in the center of it -- the parents are ultimately at fault for allowing the situation to occur in the first place.

If they know their daughter is likely to throw a tantrum in a public place and strike a stranger, they need to make sure the daughter doesn't go out in public unless she can be safely controlled, both for her sake and for people around her. I know that smacks of ableism, but when someone attacks another person - with a cart, a fist, whatever - they have just as much right as anyone else to be out in public --- and subject to the same societal rules, which state "you do not strike other people."

If this is just a bratty tantrum, for the love of god - remove the child's weapon (the cart), take her by the hand, and walk her out of the store. Park her butt in the car, and let her cool her heels. Go home if you must, or have ONE parent stay with her in the car while the other shops for the necessary things. I have seen young kids melt down in stores, mainly big department stores - they're tired, hungry, and overstimulated and just reach a breaking point. Only once have I seen a parent actually pick up their child and leave, which reduces all these environmental stressors on the child. The rest just scream at their kids, shove them into the cart or drag them along, and let the child cry and scream and annoy everyone else in the store.

[Zellie Crescent]

OMG! I really hope you're ok. I can say with absolute certainty that if that were me or my siblings we would be put over the knee of whichever parent was closer, and we certainly would not scream fuck you at our parents. Definite parenting fail.

[Micer]

This is not a situation that calls for reason, because the child was unreasonable. I wouldn't really call the Mom a SC, just a failure as a parent. The clue to the failure comes from her dismissal of Mongo's injury: when you minimize the injuries of others, you send a signal that hurting someone is OK, and it is not.

Micer's solution is probably a good one for an older child. But, if that had been my kid, I would have spanked her right then and there for the 2nd attempt to injure an innocent stranger. Kids have to be corrected immediately . . . it does no good to wait. Six is young enough that once you remove her from the emotional impact of the situation, if you punish her later she won't understand why she is being punished in the first place.

But hindsight is 20/20.

Mongo, I wouldn't have assumed no real damage was done and gotten Mom and Dad's information. It was pretty nice of you to let it go. I hope your knee is OK.

Was kinda out of it when I first wrote the reply, just realized my brain was continuing on the train of thought and the hands didn't pick up on typing out the rest XD It was supposed to be get the cart away and pull her away (one parent could've at least managed that I would hope, even to the end of the aisle, where they could still see what they did wrong) and address it right there. We do not hit. We do not hit anyone. You hurt them. What you did is not acceptable, we're leaving right now. And taken her out of the store.

I would say make her apologize as well, but somehow I get the feeling that she'd be more inclined to taking a swing at Mongo far quicker if she was in full on melt-down mode. My mom was the sort to further cement the message with the cleaning out of the room when getting home, kinda continued on with me, though this'll be my first kid, so we'll certainly see.

It was also more of a reply against hitting to another response that now that I look, has been removed, so won't branch out on that bit other than that tactic does have a place for use within limit. But very much agreed, not the situation there for reasoning with this child.

[Misanthropical]

Mongo Skruddgemire that was horrible! All I can say is at least the parents didn't try to make it your fault, which I have seen in stores with out of control children and just as equally out of control parents.

I hope your knee is doing better.

[Sparky]

Parents who are responsible and apologize profusely and a child who shouts "f*** you"? This does not add up. This does not compute. This ... this ... well, this strikes me as unlikely.

I wonder if those were not her parents. Maybe foster parents who'd just gotten custody of he hellion, or babysitting relatives. Or maybe this was a non-custodial dad and stepmom, during a not-frequent-enough visit?

Whatever, hope you're okay. Yikes! That child is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

For brats like that, I'm in favor of child-sized cushioned handcuffs and gags. Until then, duct tape!

(There's a reason I'll never be a parent.)

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Hell, could have been me, and I've never been in foster care, my parents stayed together, etc. I was am the type of person to regress and generally not have my shit together. Fury would have done that, and if the day had been frustrating enough for her, this might have been the final straw. But that could also be it, sparky.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I'm not so sure I'd have been as polite as you. Granted, after the second ramming-- especially once I was sure it was deliberate, I'd probably have grabbed the cart and swung or otherwise moved it out of a direct path at me. Little monsters like the child described in the OP don't really register on my "be nice, a kid is present" radar.

[Moirae]

I'm so sick to death of parents who do nothing when their kid behaves badly. If a kid starts acting like that, even if you have to pick them up and carry them bodily out the store, you do. Or you're supposed to. One parent stays behind to finish, the other takes the kid back to the car, put them inside and let them scream until they're worn out. They don't get anything they want, so they learn a lesson.