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Originally Posted by raeanna74
One more thing for those of you working in a store. Don't necessarily look down on every parent who has to correct a child in the store. Children frequently choose a public forum to test their bounderies because parents are hesistant to punish publicly. For toddlers this is difficult because the consequences has to be immediate or they won't connect the consequences to the action. What I would look down on is when a parent tells a kid "no" in the cashout line, they start screaming, and the parent promptly hands them the candy they were asking for. I would actually prefer to hear the kid cry rather than see the parent reinforce the child's thinking that they can throw a tantrum and get what they want.
Also it's not always feasible to leave a full grocery cart with frozen items in the cashout line or any other place in the store. That checkout lane is where I see the most frequent tantrums, partly because of the glaring presence of candy. If stores would rather make no candy sales instead of listening to the screams of children then they should move the candy. They don't - because children are their best sales associates.
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I know what kids can be like, I've walked out of stores myself when my kids have acted up.
But there's a big difference in a candy-bar fight at the checkout, and being able to locate the family in question in the store & track them as their child screeches relentlessly for 20-40 minutes. Up & down the ailses, screaming & screaming.
I know what kids are like, and I understand how boring & frustrating shopping is for kids (and adults!). But I've seen kids carry on & fall & roll around on the floor, crying until they are dry-heaving, and the parents either act like nothing is going on or scream & wail right back (gee I wonder where they learned that!)
The funniest, however, and I could not help myself from laughing out loud, was a very very energetic boy about 3 or 4, ignoring his Mom completely as she repeatedly asked him to settle down. He was standing in the main part of the shopping cart & rocking it impatiently as his Mom was trying to pay with her debit card.
"Hurry up you Crackhead!" he yells at his Mother.
Now tell me where a 3 year old learns that?
His mother never even flinched, just went on her way quietly.
Its a sad thing.