But I waaaaaant iiiiiiiiiit!!!!!

[Custard Chick]

Last night I'm closing at Panera's and we get a dinner rush, not as crazy as most Saturday's, but still busy enough to get a line. I'm in the bakery and finish my line and call over the next customer. A lady and her daughter, about 7 or 8, who had been looking at the board for a few minutes now, come over and the mother starts to order.

All the while she ordering (she doesn't get too far), the little girl keeps saying "Mommy I want hot chocolate! I want it, Mommy, I want hot chocolate."

Mother shushes the girl, telling her no, she's not getting hot chocolate, but she can pick any of the sodas we have at the soda fountain. Child does not like this and starts whining more. "But I waaaant it, Mommy! I want hot chocolate!"

Mother looks like she wants to strangle the girl, apologizes to me and steps aside, allowing me to take another customer as she tries to calm the girl down. So I take another customer, and go to make a smoothie for them. This entire time, the girl gets louder and louder and more annoying, eventually bursting into tears. At that point, mother drags her out of the store, but the girl collapses in a fit in our foyer, screaming and yelling and whining as customers attempt to go around. Finally, mother just grabs the girl by the wrist and literally drags her out to the car.

I felt so bad for that woman. From the way she was acting, the girl had been a pain all day long and this was the breaking point for her. Poor over-stressed mother.

[Auto]

but mom didn't give in.

so she earns major points for that.

[theredbaron47]

^^^ What auto said.

[Pixagi]

And it really sounds like it's not the mom's fault from what you wrote. The dad probably spoils that kid rotten when he's home with her, then mom has to deal with it. My mom used to do that when I was little, and my dad would get so pissed. But then, I wasn't known to be a holy terror. My sisnter however...

[Custard Chick]

Oh I'm not placing any blame on the mother. It's more just about how annoying the child was. And I agree, Pixagi, she's probably daddy's little angel who can do no wrong at home. My brother and I played that game when we were younger: mommy said no so we immediately ran to dad and he would say yes...Until he finally caught on and started asking, "What did your mother say?" lol

[Bagga]

I had a fun incident like that when my kids were 3 and 6 years old. I was working downstairs in the cellar, kid's were upstairs in the playroom, wife in the adjacent room watching TV. Suddenly thump thump thump, the thunder of tiny feet, and both kids rushed in:

"Pete, can we have a choc-ice from the freezer please?"
"Jan said no you can't, didn't she?"
"Erm, yes. How did you know?"
"Because she was in the room near you, and you must have asked her first, and if she said yes you wouldn't have come and asked me."
"Awwwww." (Kids don't usually know the words for swearing, but they sure do know the context.)

[BookstoreEscapee]

I had a fun incident like that when my kids were 3 and 6 years old.

Your kids call you by your first name?

My parents were pretty much a team. We did get a lot of "Ask your mother." So we would, and she would say, "Ask your father."

What's a kid to do then?

[Forensic Waitress]

It is good to hear that the mother did not give in to a temper tantrum.

As I plan on hopefully having kids in the near future and now have a less than good niece I often ask my mother how she handled these situations especailly since she had 4 kids. One of the biggest points she ever made was that her and Dad had to be a team and had to be consistent otherwise you would not be able to stop that behaviour and it is not entirely the kids fault because they are getting mixed signals and aren't old enough to completely understand what is happening.

[Gurndigarn]

\My parents were pretty much a team. We did get a lot of "Ask your mother." So we would, and she would say, "Ask your father."

What's a kid to do then?

"We did, and he said to ask you...."

[Broomjockey]

I always figured that if neither said no, then it was okay. That was after several times of going back to the original askee, and saying "They said to ask you." Since that always ended up as a "fine" I just skipped that step.

And on topic, bratty kid, kudos to the mom for not completely losing it on the brat.

[LifeCarnie]

While, shopping on Saturday, I saw an incident at the Bulls Eye on Saturday that kind of pissed me off.

A woman was shopping with a kid (2-3 yr old) and the kid was asking for a drink of water......over and over and over and over and over and over again. It got to be really annoying to listen to, but I don't blame the kid. I blame the asshat who took the kid shopping, without bothering to bring a sippy cup or something for the kid to drink from. It's not like he was demanding a whole lot, just a little compassion and parenting. And it's not like he was screaming about wanting a toy or something that cost money. Just something to drink.

As bad as the traffic was on Saturday, there was no way that she had spent less than 2 hours on her trip to the store.

I hate people who treat their kids like a burden.

[Neo_Classic]

but mom didn't give in.

so she earns major points for that.

Deduct ten points because mum created that monster. I wouldn’t dare do something like that to my dad. He’d give me the death stare.

[Bagga]

BookstoreEscapee, yeah, we made the decision that our kids would not think of us as a function, more as individuals. I think it worked, too - they seem to have felt more "equal" than a lot of other kids, and we have always related well as friends as well as a family. My youngest son in particular is one of my best pals.

[DesignFox]

Deduct ten points because mum created that monster. I wouldn’t dare do something like that to my dad. He’d give me the death stare.

I dunno Neo. Kids that age do have melt downs..no matter how good the parents are. Betcha after mom's reaction, she won't do it again any time soon.

[Jacen]

I'd say the kid is used to getting what they want when they want it. Major points for the mother through. She kept control of the situation.

Curious through, what is a soda foutain?

I wouldn’t dare do something like that to my dad. He’d give me the death stare.

I remember getting a hiding when I played up. And I deserved it too....