The worst mother I've ever seen

[Amalthea]

Working in retail is one of the main reasons I have no plans to have children of my own. The spoiled brats and sucky parents I encounter every day helped sour the thought for me. And I've heard the arguments, yeah, mine would be different, yada, yada. Like I said, it's only ONE of the reasons. Anyway, here is my story of the worst mother I've seen:

I'm working on a display in the front part of the store when I hear a wailing start from the back where the kids department is. Nothing new here. One of the banes of my existence is the stupid Thomas the Tank Engine set we have back there, since the vast majority of children screech like banshees when mummy or daddy tear them away from it after leaving them back there alone for an hour (like the kid's department is a playpen) so they can shop. So, there's this wailing. It begins to travel towards the front of the store, but stops in the middle. (The wailing doesn't stop, just its forward progress) After a minute or so I go to the customer service desk in the middle of the store to grabs something or other, and there's this 2 year old sitting on the floor, throwing a tantrum. There's no one very close by him, and as I look around, any women within sight range are looking back at me like "No way, he's not MY kid!" So I wait there for a moment or two, waiting for mom or dad to come collect him. My waiting pays off when a woman comes towards us, hauling a <1 yr old in carrier and with a 3 yr old trailing behind her, with one of our bags slung over her wrist (obviously left tantrum boy in the middle of the store while she made her purchase), and a cell phone plastered to her face. She switches the phone to between her ear and shoulder and grabs the 2 yr old's hand in an attempt to haul him out with her. She gets a few feet up the main aisle, but the 2 yr old kicks the tantrum up another notch and she just can't manage it. (Cell phone update: Still on it) So, she sets down the baby, leaves the 3 yr old, and proceeds to march him out the door. I can't believe it, and I go to where they are, in the middle of our main aisle, to keep an eye on them. The 3 yr old doesn't want to wait where mommy left him, so despite my attempt to keep him there, he walks to the front door and stands in the doorway. So I'm keeping an eye on the baby in the carrier, who is playing with, of all things, one of those silver-foil plastic bags that usually have Goldfish crackers in them. Oh, that's safe. A few minutes later the lady comes back in, sans 2 yr old, to scoop up the other two. And, I don't know why I'm surprised, but she is still on her cell phone. Okay, lady, you can shop, parent, or chat, and MAYBE if you're talented you can do 2 of those at the same time, but not all three!

[ArenaBoy]

Wow, just wow. Leaves her son in the middle of the store, does not do a thing to quiet him down and she's still on her phone? That's a piece of work right there. Multitasking is nice but at times it isn't needed.

[MadMike]

Wow, just wow. Leaves her son in the middle of the store, does not do a thing to quiet him down and she's still on her phone? That's a piece of work right there. Multitasking is nice but at times it isn't needed.

If the only thing was the part where she didn't do a thing to quiet the kid down, that would be one thing. They say the best thing to do if the kid throws a tantrum is ignore it, or at the most, remove him from the store. But all that other stuff, like leaving the baby and the older kid unattended, just... wow.

Would it really have killed her to get off the damn phone for the few minutes it would have taken to get the kids under control?

[Crow The Robot]

Wow, that's just sad. mybe DYFS should be called I mean she ababndoned, though momentarily her baby, in a dangerous spot and NEVER got off the phone. Poor kids. I am never having kids either, due to my time in retail.

[Tria]

There is ONE bright spot to all this.... In about thirty-fourty years, THEY get to pick her nursing home and just abandon her there.

[dragonflygrrl]

The one that takes the cake for me is one of our regular customers. This couple that comes in all the freaking time with various self-made problems would drive me crazy enough on their own. When they bring their terrible, annoying children, though, we descend to a whole new level of suck. The girl is maybe seven or eight, and says everything in an annoying, squeaky voice in an obvious attempt to be what I believe the British call "twee." She will walk up to me with some random accessory and ask, "What does THIS one do?" I will tell her, then a minute later she is back with something else. She actually will grind the toe of her shoe into the ground while she talks. I know she's just a kid, but some days I have to really keep in mind that whole not condoning violence thing with her.

The little boy is maybe two-and-a-half or three, and is kind of at that walking/running/falling on butt stage. That would be fine, and even kind of cute, except that he also likes to climb. As in climb on our barstools, which are teetery and tall. Every time these people come into our store, they completely let the kids run rampant. In fact, they behave like the kids don't even exist. Of course, in a blatant attempt to get attention, the kids' behaviour gets worse and worse the longer they are in the store.

One day, the mother was in with the kids, and I was trying to troubleshoot her phone. The little girl was doing her cutsie-wutsie bit, and the toddler was climbing a bar stool. I had already warned the mother that it was dangerous for him to be doing that, and she had blithely said, "oh, he'll be fine." Ooooo-kay. Lo and behold, a few minutes later he falls, head first, onto the hard floor. I heard the sound, and I don't want to hear it again. Did Mommy Dearest rush to his aid? Did she threaten to sue us for hurting her precious little boy? Did she in any way acknowledge the fact that her toddler was very possibly concussed? Not a bit. He laid there and screamed until I said, "Ma'am, is he ok? Would you like me to get a cold compress?" (Mind you my main concern was not getting sued, but at least I was trying to help the kid!) She looked down at him and barked, "Will you shut the **** up!" Then she looked at me and very matter-of-factly said, "He's such a little attention-slut." I didn't know what to say, so I just fixed her phone and gave it back. She hoisted the kid up on one gargantuan hip, took her phone, and walked out saying, "I guess I better get the little bastard home or he'll just whine all day. I was gonna go shopping, but I guess not."

[DigitalEngine]

She hoisted the kid up on one gargantuan hip, took her phone, and walked out saying, "I guess I better get the little bastard home or he'll just whine all day. I was gonna go shopping, but I guess not."

IMO she should be neutered.

[Bella_Vixen]

Dragonflygrrl, I am completely, 100% speechless.

[Ryu]

poor boy...
cps needs to be called!

[Tria]

IMO she should be neutered.

Spayed actually since she is female....

[chainedbarista]

spayed is also used, but the term neutered is generally applied to both sexes.

sadly enough, if we could handle her this way, it would be a violation of her 'civil right' to breed...even though it's against our 'civil right' not to deal with her inability to parent properly.

[JustaCashier]

Story from Amalthea's local news:

"Five people were killed, and one injured in a two-car crash. The accident happened when a car went speeding through a red light and T-Boned another car.

Both occupants of the car that had the green light died, as did the three children, ages one, two, and three, in the car that ran the red light. The driver of that car is expected to survive, once the cell phone, embedded in the side of her head from the impact of the accident, is surgically removed."

Mike

[JustaCashier]

....and walked out saying, "I guess I better get the little bastard home or he'll just whine all day......"

At first, I was disturbed that she referred to him as a "little bastard" especially in his presence.

Then I realized that she was not using it in the vulgar sense, but in the true sense, since she probably doen't know who the daddy is.

[abbynormal]

Well that's a possibilty... Who knows. All I can think is Wow, just wow.

[garth1]

If the only thing was the part where she didn't do a thing to quiet the kid down, that would be one thing. They say the best thing to do if the kid throws a tantrum is ignore it, or at the most, remove him from the store. But all that other stuff, like leaving the baby and the older kid unattended, just... wow.

I posted this on the last board, but I will repeat some of it here;

Co-worker and I were out getting carts, and a young mother and her 3yo boy had just came out the door. Mom had a cart full of stuff, and little boy was walking along, crying croc. tears, Mom was ignoring him. He stands on sid of cart, and procieds to shake it and scream even louder, and mom still pays no attention. She proceeds to the car, unloads cart, puts boy into carseat, and drives away.
Now, coworker and I want to give a standing ovation to both mom and boy; mom for ignoring tantrum, and boy for such a dramatic performance