We’ve all been there before. You’re trying to shop for groceries, or buying school supplies for your children. Maybe you’re at the local laundromat and frazzled because your washing machine crapped out on you. Perhaps you’ve stopped for lunch at a local diner or fast food restaurant. Where ever you may be, you’re busy with your own thoughts, your own children, your own tasks. And then….

A loud screech from a few feet away. Maybe the kid in the booth right behind you is bouncing around in his seat to the point that every movement he make jerks you around in your seat. Another outburst. Perhaps someone’s child is running through the laundromat, punching each machine as he goes by. You try to be patient and let it go, but it doesn’t stop. The more that little ball of fire screams and squeals, the more irritated you get. Wait. Is that child here all alone? Nope. The child is with adults. Why, oh why aren’t they making him stop? They are oblivious to their child’s outbursts.

It seems that many parents don’t teach their children proper behavior when out in public. Some don’t teach them manners at all! Is it because they don’t know any better? Is it because they believe their child has the right to do whatever they want and disturb whomever they want? I don’t necessarily believe in spanking, although sometimes, it does the trick. Sometimes, all it takes it raising your voice! Sometimes, counting. My kids rarely let me get past 2. They knew I meant business. But, parents, please discipline your child because if you don’t they will grow into big, overgrown assholes who don’t care about anything or anyone!

Take a recent case in a Maine diner, video link below. The owner of the diner slams her hands down on the counter and yells, “This has got to stop!” She points to the 2-year-old who has been crying for 20 minutes while the parents did absolutely nothing. Turns out the child was hungry and we know how kids are when they are hungry. They are very impatient. They don’t have the control that we do as adults. Why didn’t the parents try to divert her attention? Why didn’t they ask the waitress for some crackers? The parents did nothing. If you have been following this story, you know that even when the child’s pancakes arrived at the table, the parents didn’t even give them to her! She still cried and cried and cried! Why did this family think it was ok for their child to disturb everyone in the diner?

Do you think it was OK for the owner of the diner to respond in this way? Do you think she was out of line?

My opinion is this – and you can take it or leave it – the parents should have either removed child from the diner (temporarily or permanently), or asked for crackers or a banana for the child, or tried to divert the child’s attention to something else. (This would mean giving the child some attention and I’m not sure that the parents even knew what that meant.) As for the owner of the diner, a little more tact could have been used. But let’s not forget about the 75 other customers in the establishment who may have been trying to relax over breakfast, go over notes for an important meeting at work, or maybe just have a quiet conversation with someone. ALL parents need to be a little more sensitive to other people around them! It’s called having some consideration for others!

Yes, children get upset. They cry. They act out. They are children. But it’s our responsibility as parents to teach them; to guide them. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it has to be done. We cannot allow our children to grow up with NO manners!! We can’t let them think it’s ok to behave like little spoiled animals because they will ultimately behave like animals when they are adults! We have to teach them that they can’t always have what they want. They have to learn how to deal with life’s disappointments. Sometimes, they have to wait. Sometimes, they don’t get what they want, when they want it. Parents need to be teaching their children manners, and that it is NOT ok to disturb everyone else!

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