The Screamers

Lately, we have had a rash of what can only be called “screamers” at work. These are children that are allowed to scream, cry, yell, and shout at the top of their lungs while they are at a table in the restaurant with their parents. It never fails, that the parents simply sits there and ignores the whole tantrum. I will never understand this. I have 4 kids and I promise you this never happened with my kids. Never. Know why? Because they knew I would whoop that butt right there in front of God and man. Only once did one of my kids throw a tantrum in public. It was in a Costco and he wanted something and I told him “no”. He got out of the stroller, threw himself on the ground, and started to cry. I snatched him up and wore him out. His older brother just sat there watching the whole thing. When it was done, I deposited my son right back into his stroller and went about my business. As you can imagine, that child never threw another tantrum again. Just watching his brother get spanked was enough to convince the oldest child that it wasn’t worth it. Then, they passed the lesson down to the younger kids when they were born. One child, one time, out of four kids. Hmm…..

So, if you are sitting in a restaurant and your child is throwing a world class tantrum, DO SOMETHING!!! Take them outside, take them to the bathroom, or take them home…. It doesn’t really matter where you take them as long as you take them away. I don’t understand how you can just sit there and listen to it and not want to make it stop. I have come to the conclusion that you are so used to it that you have become accustomed to it and automatically tune it out. I have a news flash for you. When your child is misbehaving, either in public or in private, and you ignore it…. that’s bad parenting. I have heard some of these same parents say that they think they kids are just trying to get some attention, so by denying them that attention they are “teaching” them that behavior is unproductive. Have you people bumped your heads? Allowing them to get away with bad behavior reinforces in them that it is ok to act that way because there are no consequences. This thinking has been around for a while and now these same kids are starting to enter the work force and I work with some of them. Let me tell you what kind of people they turn out to be. These kids believe that they are “entitled”…. to everything. They have the view point that the world “owes them” and no one has a right to tell them “no”. They feel this way because they never heard that word used at home. They lack work ethic, ambition, and many have no morals.

I do not advocate child abuse. I will be the first one to tell someone I don’t know to keep their hands off their child, if the adult is being overly aggressive. Shoot, I have told a father to “shut up” before because he was calling his son an idiot. However, I do believe in “hands on” parenting and, while you may have no control over when your child decides to act out, you have ALL the control over how you respond to their outburst and what steps you take to rein them in. Do us all a favor… if you are too overwhelmed, tired, frustrated, or passive to deal with your kids when you go out to eat, hire a baby sitter and leave them at home. Give yourself, and the all the rest of us, a break!