Mama Bird
09-24-2007, 06:15 AM
DS and I were at the grocery store Friday. There was a little boy who was probably three there with his mom. She was doing her shopping, constantly telling him (he was not in the car) how naughty he was acting. Now, I'm a realist, my son can be a real handful. But he needs nurturing and the shopping needs to be done, so I slow down, ask his opinions, and have him help. ("Would you please choose two boxes of cereal? What do you think of this carton of eggs," etc.) If he needs to be redirected, I go to a knee and say it quietly, so I don't embarrass him.
This little boy and his mom were getting louder and louder. It's a small grocery store, and I could hear her getting more and more mean to him. He had finally had enough, it seemed, when he shoved the cart (and it was a pretty full cart and a very small child) hard, making it fly across the aisle and run directly into a display of cut flowers, spraying water everywhere. Unfortunately, DS and I had just come around the corner, and there was no way to move fast enough to avoid witnessing what I knew we were going to be forced to see. She towered over him, bent over, and just wailed on him. He was screaming for her to stop, the cashier and DS and I were just in horrified shock. She hit him at least four times, hard...he fell forward with each hit. I wanted to throw up, I was shaking and so upset, but afraid to step in, lest this woman's anger be vented toward me and my unborn child...and the need to protect my own from this woman was very, very real feeling.
After the scene broke up a bit, DS and I headed down the aisle, and he tugged at my shirt. I bent to him and he said, "Mama, I promise you I won't ever act that naughty." and I said to him, "Son, a Mama should never, ever hit her little boy, and I promise you that I won't ever hit you. It's very wrong to hit, especially for a big person to hit a little person." He repeated to me several times that he'd never act that naughty. I kept assuring him that even if he did, I wouldn't hit him. It very much disturbed him, and I was furious at that woman for hitting her child, and for forcing my child to witness it.
She checked out before I did, and her son went on with life as though the spanking had never happened. But, he was completely breaking the rules by running on the counter provided to bag our groceries. There are signs posted that kids are not supposed to even sit on them, but the cashier kept her mouth shut, probably to prevent her from hitting him again.
When we were both bagging our groceries, DS and I did our normal routine where I give him a bag, then all the chips, etc. and have him be "in charge" of them. I was praising him, taking the extra time to encourage his helpfulness (how else will he learn?) and listening to that mom. She was speaking in a deliberately loud voice, praising him, even though he was doing absolutely nothing but running wild. Telling him what a good boy he is, what a big helper he was today, etc. My heart is just breaking for that poor confused little boy. And I am absolutely furious at her for doing what she did to my son, by making him witness another child being hit. Sick, sick, sick. :mad
This little boy and his mom were getting louder and louder. It's a small grocery store, and I could hear her getting more and more mean to him. He had finally had enough, it seemed, when he shoved the cart (and it was a pretty full cart and a very small child) hard, making it fly across the aisle and run directly into a display of cut flowers, spraying water everywhere. Unfortunately, DS and I had just come around the corner, and there was no way to move fast enough to avoid witnessing what I knew we were going to be forced to see. She towered over him, bent over, and just wailed on him. He was screaming for her to stop, the cashier and DS and I were just in horrified shock. She hit him at least four times, hard...he fell forward with each hit. I wanted to throw up, I was shaking and so upset, but afraid to step in, lest this woman's anger be vented toward me and my unborn child...and the need to protect my own from this woman was very, very real feeling.
After the scene broke up a bit, DS and I headed down the aisle, and he tugged at my shirt. I bent to him and he said, "Mama, I promise you I won't ever act that naughty." and I said to him, "Son, a Mama should never, ever hit her little boy, and I promise you that I won't ever hit you. It's very wrong to hit, especially for a big person to hit a little person." He repeated to me several times that he'd never act that naughty. I kept assuring him that even if he did, I wouldn't hit him. It very much disturbed him, and I was furious at that woman for hitting her child, and for forcing my child to witness it.
She checked out before I did, and her son went on with life as though the spanking had never happened. But, he was completely breaking the rules by running on the counter provided to bag our groceries. There are signs posted that kids are not supposed to even sit on them, but the cashier kept her mouth shut, probably to prevent her from hitting him again.
When we were both bagging our groceries, DS and I did our normal routine where I give him a bag, then all the chips, etc. and have him be "in charge" of them. I was praising him, taking the extra time to encourage his helpfulness (how else will he learn?) and listening to that mom. She was speaking in a deliberately loud voice, praising him, even though he was doing absolutely nothing but running wild. Telling him what a good boy he is, what a big helper he was today, etc. My heart is just breaking for that poor confused little boy. And I am absolutely furious at her for doing what she did to my son, by making him witness another child being hit. Sick, sick, sick. :mad