Heard about this in church today...

[rodriguezpoultry]

I can see where the man is coming from...that's all I'm saying. But to actually DO it...that's where the line was crossed.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

He crossed the line smacking the kid,...he should have smacked the mom. It isn't the kids fault,...it's just bad parenting.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

lol...I think any part of actual "smacking" is crossing the line.. (ETA: Any part of actually smacking a child who is not yours.)

nobody wants a brawl in the wal-mart check-out line..

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Quote:

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

LOL! I forgot about the people WAITING in the line...of course they would like to see the brawl!

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Quote:
That is what I was thinking!

 

[cassie]

I agree the guy shouldn't have smacked the kid, but I know where he is coming from. I have been tempted to do the same thing myself on any number of occasions. I am so tired of shopping and being out in public and being subjected to the squalls and antics of a bunch of out of control brats. Two years is not too young to know the basics of civilized behavior. If I had ever thrown a hissy fit in a store when I was little, my mother would have given me a swat across my behind. Ditto my brother's. She didn't have to. That type of behavior was never on the radar for us kids. It would not have occurred to us to act that way out in public. Ever.

 

[jjdward]

First of all I would have given that guy some free dental work

. On the other hand, somebody needs to smack the parent for letting her kid act like that in public. I am by no means standing up for this guy though.
I worked in retail for a while and I can't tell you how many times I heard a parent let their kid just act like a heathen. They would say, "NO you can't have that. No. NO NO NO NO NO NO". If little Johnny didn't listen the first six times you told him no, what makes you think he will listen the seventh time. When I was little and we went to walmart, I was told "You're not getting anything, its too close to Christmas". It could be in May, but I knew better that to pitch a fit. And Mama would have whipped me where ever she needed to. I never heard, " You wait till we get home" it happened right there for the whole world to see.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I think they'd been pulling ME off anyone who did that to MY child. Parents have the right to discipline their child the way they see fit.

I'm a mother to five, and sometimes my 1 year old starts crying in the store. Sometimes he can be consoled, sometimes not. It doesn't say why the child started crying, and for all we know, that baby could have had a tummy ache, just been scolded by her mom, or who knows what else.

I get really irritated with people who can't understand that children are not able to always vocalize they have a problem other than to cry. No where did I read that she was pitching a tantrum for a toy or candy.

Children cry. That's all there is to it. Sometimes for no reason, sometimes just to throw a tantrum (and then Mom or Dad should adminster a swat on the bottom, not a stranger to the face!) and sometimes they have something wrong and the only way they know to voice it, unless they are able to talk, is to cry.

I live 45 minutes from the closest big grocery stores. If one of my kids start crying, I can't afford the gas in today's economy to leave the store and finish my shopping elsewhere. I do my best to console/quiet my crying child and finish my shopping as quickly as I can.

 

[StupidBird]

Great, my town makes the international news again and I have to explain to my relatives WHY it is that I live here.