By Mary Rarick
You know what I’m talking about. Flagrant disobedience. Not a care for the rules.
So when you’re out in public and you see this kind of reckless behavior, what do you do? Do you intervene or let it go?
My rule of thumb: I only interfere if the child or other children are in imminent danger.
Other than that, what’s the point? You’ll only alienate the parent. Come on! If they wanted to do things differently, don’t you think they’d be doing them now?
If you give your two cents’ worth, do you think it anything will change? I don’t think so. Not the child’s behavior. Not the parent’s parenting style.
So what do you think? What do you do in a similar situation?
Tags: discipline, other people's kids, Parenting, spoiled
It would depend, if they were interacting with my child I would tell them “We dont do things that way” and then if it continued remove my child from the situation. If they were doing something dangerous, I usually say “Your not suppose to do that” and if that doesnt work I look at the parent and say “Ummm your son/daughter is climbing on this, doing that ect or going to get hurt.” And if that doesnt work I will inform management if we are somewhere that has it. And my kids ask “why cant we do that?” I usually tell them that I am not their parent and cannot force them to be safe and responsible.
You bring up such a good point, Faith, about your children asking questions about why they can’t engage in that kind of behavior. Love your take on this issue. Thanks for the comment.
I am a daycare provider and so it would be hard for me not to jump into daycare mode, if the misbehavior was going to cause harm to someone else. I have always been the type of person who if I am not in range to see what my child is doing other adults can correct the child, just please let me know. That is what I tend to do in the same situation. Or I point out the behavior to the parent without saying anything to the child, and like Faith if that does not help I too would remove my child from the situation!
Why don’t you talk to the parent? Maybe the kid has a condition like ADHD and the parent has tried everything and still the kid acts out in public. Do you think the parent is having a good time? I think not. I can tell you by experience. My child has been diagnosed with ADHD and is a great kid, but if he doesn’t get his way and we are in a store there is a full blown yelling, fighting ugly fit. Everyone stares and I know what they are thinking, but what can I do? They know nothing about us and they are judging.
You make a very good point. What kinds of options do parents with ADHD children have?