Question for those with children

[AUFred]

When you are in a public setting and your child becomes unruly do you take into consideration the other people around you?

When our children were young I know of a few occasions in restaurants where our children were disturbing other patrons. We called the server over to get our ticket before the food arrived to pay for only our drinks or to get them to box our food for us to take it home.

 

[Abcinthia]

Yes I do. If Imogen becomes unruly and nothing is calming her down then I'll warn her to behave or we'll go home. If she still is being unruly, I'll leave as quickly as possible.

I wouldn't want a meal or cinema trip etc ruined by a child, so I don't expect people to put up with Imogen being unruly. And besides, she has to learn somehow what is acceptable behaviour and what isn't in certain situations.

 

[Niamh]

Absolutely and it drives me crazy when other people don't.

 

[AUFred]

Yes I do. If Imogen becomes unruly and nothing is calming her down then I'll warn her to behave or we'll go home. If she still is being unruly, I'll leave as quickly as possible.

I wouldn't want a meal or cinema trip etc ruined by a child, so I don't expect people to put up with Imogen being unruly. And besides, she has to learn somehow what is acceptable behaviour and what isn't in certain situations.

Along those same lines why would anyone take a small child in a movie rated PG-13 or R? I cannot tell you how many times my trip to a much anticipated movie has been ruined by children screaming and crying or running around the theater.

Absolutely and it drives me crazy when other people don't.

You said what I was thinking.

 

[MoonOwl]

Us too. Had PBBB thrown a fit in public w/no settling her down we'd have left where ever we were.

Fortunately, we were lucky. She was and is a good kid.

The only public meltdown she had that I can recall was in the grocery store when she was around 2 or 3. When I left the cart and told her I was leaving she stopped. hehehehehehehehe.... the ground rules were set

She figured out early that whining doesn't get her her way. Ever. Whereas, if she doesn't whine about getting something she knows she'll get it eventually.

hehehehehehehehehe...... having said that, the teens are rapidly approaching.... Things may change :24::ninja

 

[Niamh]

moonowl, what does PBBB stand for?

 

[Abcinthia]

Absolutely and it drives me crazy when other people don't.

I completely agree.

Along those same lines why would anyone take a small child in a movie rated PG-13 or R? I cannot tell you how many times my trip to a much anticipated movie has been ruined by children screaming and crying or running around the theater.

I have no idea. I remember going to see War of the Worlds (12a in the UK) and 2 young children (about 3 and 5ish) had to be taken out because they were constantly screaming and crying hysterically over the monsters. They only got taken out after other people had to complain to staff and the parents got really huffy about it and made a massive scene about how the cinema wasn't child friendly.

It really annoyed me. Perhaps they thought their children would be ok with the film, but surely as soon as they got hysterical about it should have been the parents' cue that perhaps this isn't a suitable movie.

 

[AUFred]

Our daughter was a little angel growing up. She never wanted to be in trouble. When our son came along he was approaching 3 before we could take him in a restaurant outside of McDonald's. By the time he started in school he and our daughter would remark to us about misbehaving children they saw.

 

[Thornless]

When you are in a public setting and your child becomes unruly do you take into consideration the other people around you?

When our children were young I know of a few occasions in restaurants where our children were disturbing other patrons. We called the server over to get our ticket before the food arrived to pay for only our drinks or to get them to box our food for us to take it home.

That's what we do, several occasions due to Michael.

We also try to only go to restaurants when we know he's recently napped, had a snack, and have toys for distractions and to keep his mood happy, but sometimes he just doesn't want to be out.

I also leave stores when they misbehave... either leave the cart abandoned (if they are really bad) or pay for what I did get in the cart and GTFO.

 

[AUFred]

Our son was a fussy baby. I am not sure if it was Colic or not but he never slept more than a couple of hours at a time until he was about 3. When he was a few months old we were on vacation and decided to go to a nice restaurant. We sat down and placed our order and he cranked up like a siren. I was determined we were going to enjoy our meal. He had no teeth at the time and may have been teething. I grabbed a piece of garlic bread that was drenched in butter as they serve in some restaurants and handed it to him. Right in the mouth. He gnawed on and sucked on that piece of bread over a half hour. A very quiet half hour. Not sure if we ever got all the grease out of his clothes. The sever looked at us like we were crazy but the other patrons were allowed to enjoy their meal and so were we.

 

[Niamh]

Of course my kids are just perfect so I wasn't in that situation often.............

 

[Withers]

I have a huge issue with kids acting up in public and parents just ignoring them. My sister is a PRIME example!! My 4 year old niece (the one in my avvy) threw a ginormous fit in Chick-Fil-A the other day. I'm talking screaming at the top of her lungs, stomping, jumping around, crying, OMG it was seriously embarrassing. My sister was just like "Ok Mya, stop or I'm going to pop you..." And she said that about 50 times in the 30 MINUTES she allowed my niece to scream and throw a hysterical fit. Finally I was just like OK I'M DONE!!! I grabbed her and took her little ass outside, put her in the car, and dared her to scream one more word. She shut right up. And then my sister had the nerve to tell me she thought I was too hard on her!! Ugh.

 

[AUFred]

I have a huge issue with kids acting up in public and parents just ignoring them. My sister is a PRIME example!! My 4 year old niece (the one in my avvy) threw a ginormous fit in Chick-Fil-A the other day. I'm talking screaming at the top of her lungs, stomping, jumping around, crying, OMG it was seriously embarrassing. My sister was just like "Ok Mya, stop or I'm going to pop you..." And she said that about 50 times in the 30 MINUTES she allowed my niece to scream and throw a hysterical fit. Finally I was just like OK I'M DONE!!! I grabbed her and took her little ass outside, put her in the car, and dared her to scream one more word. She shut right up. And then my sister had the nerve to tell me she thought I was too hard on her!! Ugh.

"Spare the rod and spoil the child."

My children learned quickly where the lines were drawn. By the time they were both 3 they knew when they had pushed Mom or Dad too far. When you allow a child to act up with no repercussions then you are letting them control the situation. As a parent our job is to teach our children. Much like training an animal they grow accustommed to a conditioned response.

 

[Mystic]

I was out two weeks ago with family and my niece was allowed to run around and get under foot in the restaurant. I said to my in-laws. "Either you teach her that she must sit quietly or we leave, as this is very disrespectful to everyone." They made her sit.

My son from a baby up was taught the proper behaviour for public settings. I can honestly say he never once became unruly in public, had he, I would have told him off and if that didn't work I'd have taken him to the bathroom to settle down, depending on the age, a slap on the bum. I don't agree in allowing children to rule. Handle them quick and consciously and one should never have these issues. People who let their children do what they like when they like never learn how to behave properly. It starts at home. Teach them to sit at the dinner table every night until everyone is done and from there the same should be held at public outings. Children won't learn if they aren't shown first.

 

[Withers]

"Spare the rod and spoil the child."

My children learned quickly where the lines were drawn. By the time they were both 3 they knew when they had pushed Mom or Dad too far. When you allow a child to act up with no repercussions then you are letting them control the situation. As a parent our job is to teach our children. Much like training an animal they grow accustommed to a conditioned response.

My nieces are beautiful and smart and I love them to pieces, but they are not disciplined AT ALL. I've been at my sisters for 3 weeks now, and I've been trying to instill a little discipline in them, but my sister (sort of jokingly but not really) tells everyone that I crack the whip too hard. But I tell you what, neither one of them throw fits with me, talk back to me, or give me any problems. But as soon as my sister takes them somewhere, stuff like the incident the other day happens.

 

[Niamh]

My nieces are beautiful and smart and I love them to pieces, but they are not disciplined AT ALL. I've been at my sisters for 3 weeks now, and I've been trying to instill a little discipline in them, but my sister (sort of jokingly but not really) tells everyone that I crack the whip too hard. But I tell you what, neither one of them throw fits with me, talk back to me, or give me any problems. But as soon as my sister takes them somewhere, stuff like the incident the other day happens.

Still though, disciplining someone elses kids (even your sisters) is never a good idea imo

 

[Withers]

Still though, disciplining someone elses kids (even your sisters) is never a good idea imo

Someone whose children are not my blood no, I wouldn't. But I refuse to be out in public with a child throwing a hissy fit while my sister sits there doing nothing and people are staring at us like we're retarded.

 

[Niamh]

Someone whose children are not my blood no, I wouldn't. But I refuse to be out in public with a child throwing a hissy fit while my sister sits there doing nothing and people are staring at us like we're retarded.

I do see your point but people get very defensive when it comes to their kids, I know people who have fallen out over similar things.

 

[Withers]

I do see your point but people get very defensive when it comes to their kids, I know people who have fallen out over similar things.

My sister knows her children are in serious need of discipline, but she's a pushover and won't do it. So I get to be the bad guy and she still gets to be nice mommy.

 

[itsmeJonB]

My sons 2 so the way he behaves in public fluctuates. I will choose a cart outside of a store to get the yelling out of his system about having to be strapped in the set, away from other people. Usually he doesn't cry but on rare occasions he will. If he begins to fuss in the store I don't leave until I'm done, seeing as I'm a single dad I don't have much of a choice at this point. I don't take him to the movies, and usually the only restraunt we go to is mcdonalds if we aren't eating at home. I get embarrassed when he makes a scene so I try to avoid that as much as possible.