Ballet Brat; I feel dirty.

[chocoBug]

recap: i work alone in a fancy designer store. i have to witness all the middle class families bring in their kids in baby gap and gold watches etc. Most are alright but the one i had today was vomit inducing.

Mother walks in; i say hello, she looks at me and carries on so i immediately think 'rude bitch' and decide to ignore her until she asks for help. Her 'child' is approx 12 as far as i can see, and wearing a lil skirt and ballet tights/shoes. I have a full length mirror the posh people can admire themselves in, and this girl goes over and starts prancing and pirouetting. i wouldnt care, but she keeps trying to catch my eye in the mirror, like im going to go 'oo you are the CUTEST little girl ever! so pretty and talented!'. i'm feeling kinda sick watching this egotistical and childish display; shes 12 for christ sakes not 5.

The mother catches me looking at the kid and she gushes "isnt she so talented?! Precious, show the lady your twirls!". the kid gives me the cheesiest grin and prances just for me - how lovely. i nearly vomited on her ballet shoes. But, being the nice polite girl i am, i say 'aw thats nice; everythings on sale ok?"

bleurgh! imagine being 12 and prancing in public. Imagine being called Precious!! And i had to agree how pretty she was. I feel so dirty . . .

[Chanlin]

Maybe if she belted out a song like that girl on Britain's Got Talent then I'd be impressed. Otherwise shes about as talented as a poodle in a tutu.

[Sableonblonde]

I know how you feel a little bit. I work in a place that heavily involves children, which is ironic because I hate children. I don't really deal with or see many of the kids, however, but sometimes they get brought through the office, and everybody stops and makes a big deal about them. Most of the time I pretend to be absorbed in my work, but sometimes the kid gets called to my attention so I have to paste a smile on my face and pretend to be enamored of them.

But then, I guess it's better to fawn over your kids than to do some of the stuff the parents I deal with do to their kids, like let them die in house fires.

[tropicsgoddess]

I don't think I could stomach working with children. Kids these days are just so....ugh. Hell I don't even had a word to describe how I feel about them.

[Stormraven]

When kids were brought into the office where I last worked, I managed to usually get left alone. I think maybe because the parents knew I wouldn't pretend to anything.

[NateTheChops]

Kids are some of my best customers. They're usually very polite and well-behaved, unlike about 90 percent of the "adult" customers who come in my store.

But there are the extremely annoying ones. Although nine times out of ten the kids are annoying because their parents are.

[chocoBug]

Although nine times out of ten the kids are annoying because their parents are.

I totally agree; the mother was pretty arrogant towards me when i greeted her so i held out little hope the "child" would be nice. . .

[MelodiousBubbles]

I work in a grocery store, so I usually get the worst kids have to offer. I had one kid get pissed at their parents and throw a tantrum, which involved knocking a couple glass jars of tomato sauce off the shelf as they went by in the cart.

I was not pleased.

Nor am I ever pleased when a kid decides it's funny to screech at the top of their lungs when they're about two feet away from me. And it wasn't a baby. It was a kid about 8 or 9 who screamed at the top of his lungs for a few moments, giggled like crazy, then rinse and repeat through the entire order.

And don't even get me started on the parents who let their kids run through the store unsupervised.

Why can't I just smack the parents and tell them to do their job?

[Lace Neil Singer]

I get irritated at child noise too. I was shopping the other day and looking at some stuff on a shelf when this child decided to run around me, screeching and giggling insanely. I said to the child's mother, "Either stop your child doing that, or I trip him up." She immediately shot a look at me as tho I was the Anti-Christ and gathered up her child, walking off.

Look, if it's blindingly obvious that your child is annoying a fellow shopper, then you shouldn't wait til they say something out of desperation before you act. I do try to curb my antisocial tendencies in public, but had this mother not responded, I probably would have ended up sticking out a foot as constant screeching and cackling would have made me melt down.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

For some reason, when a child that should know better screams, it irritates me. BUT if an infant/baby does it, even if it's really loud and high pitched, it doesn't bother me at all.

Also, prancing in public at age 12 in a tutu? Sheltered much?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

If you've ever watched "Toddlers and tiaras" you know that some mothers/families go batshit crazy with their kids because they are desperate to live vicariously through them.

I couldn't believe how hard those parents push their little kids and how badly they run them down when they don't win. It's insane.

[blas]

Middle class people affording fancy designer clothes?

The only designer clothes I have are from when I was still living with my parents and from my bonus checks.....and the secondhand designer stores or TJMAXX.

[BookstoreEscapee]

If you've ever watched "Toddlers and tiaras" you know that some mothers/families go batshit crazy with their kids because they are desperate to live vicariously through them.

I couldn't believe how hard those parents push their little kids and how badly they run them down when they don't win. It's insane.

Those kinds of shows are disturbing.

The younger the kid, the less their crying bothers me.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Yeah, I find that. I guess cuz if it's a baby, you know that it can't help it. But if said child is old enough to attend formal education, then it should know by now how to sit down and shut up.

[chocoBug]

see, i dunno bout you guys, but if MY kid was running round screaming, or showing off or annoying people I would be genuinely mortified. actually -slap-the-kid-tell-them-off-run-away mortified. These people just think their kids are the cutest thing, which is natural, but expect everyone else to agree. and i think thats the bit that irritates me most..