what.. the..f

lookame3639 · May 2014

So we went to target after seeing a movie. I wanted to just walk around and see if there were any good deals on baby items or toys. Well 2 kids (about 5 and maybe 8)were just running around the entire store without a oparent in sight!! WTF!? This usually wouldn't phase me except I'm pregnant and one of the kids stepped on my foot bending back half the nail. I was about to snap at the kid so I sucked in really deep and walked down the next aisle. Seriously..target is NOT a freaking playground to let your kids just run loose.

missmiss307 · May 2014

I probably would have asked where their parents were, and if the answer wasn't acceptable, I would've notified store management. That's more than annoying, it's potentially dangerous for those kids.

lookame3639 · May 2014

@missmiss307‌ i didn't think about notifying management until I got home. After the kid stepped on me i couldn't think straight and i was getting more and more irritated at the lack of parental supervision as I walked around toward the front of the store.

jarethinafrock · May 2014

Wow! I probably would have said something really mean to them. So sorry you had to experience that...

tamarar5 · May 2014

Wow you have more restraint than I do. I would have yelled at them for being rude and injuring me and probably made them cry. And I probably wouldn't have felt bad.

Amandanmoen · June 2014

Went to an outdoor movie a couple of nights ago and three older kids in front of us talked and giggles through the whole thing! What made me angry was not that they were loud but that there was a dad with them who said NOTHING about it the whole time. Kids are kids but that pissed me off!

JessaPrimate · June 2014

I thought of this post today because we were at the park and a seven year old boy chucked a thick stick that hit me in the ankle. Waaay too close to DD. So I immediately yelled at him. I'm bad about yelling at other peoples' kids

Jolaine83 · June 2014

Yeah, I will say I don't deal well with other people yelling at my kid. You will put me on the defensive immediately if you so much as raise your voice in my child's direction and any further interaction with my kid will be carefully controlled and on my terms. Likely with me raising my voice at you. And i don't like setting bad example for my kids, but I likely will in that situation. A firm voice goes a lot further if you even feel the need to go that far. I tend to be nice and use a light, friendly voice if I truly need to speak up at all. Kids tend to respect strangers more if they aren't breathing fire at them over minor details.

Kids do crap. Be prepared. Scratch that, you cannot be prepared for what your child will try to pull and will ultimately get away with at least sometimes. Even the usually well behaved ones. You better hope your child isn't 'high spirited' like my DD. She's only two and I get to look forward to many years of my own 'WTF' moments and I still will not put up with a stranger raising their voice in the direction my child unless they are preventing a dangerous situation. She's gutsy, excitable and quite frankly, more concerned with what she can figure out to do than with any repercussions because she's just a freaking child. She is also sensitive with a huge heart and will fall apart if someone towering over her yells at her. If you feel the need to yell, do it to the parent - although I sense more respect in dealing with someone your own size.

JessaPrimate · June 2014

cruelsound said:

ewersin said:

Wow! I probably would have said something really mean to them. So sorry you had to experience that...

JessaPrimate said:

I thought of this post today because we were at the park and a seven year old boy chucked a thick stick that hit me in the ankle. Waaay too close to DD. So I immediately yelled at him. I'm bad about yelling at other peoples' kids

Saying something mean to them (or, even worse IMO, yelling at them) isn't the answer. It's the parents who need to be talked to.

I agree talking to the parents would have been my ideal. But there were no parents in sight and the kid had more sticks in his hand.

Having a child has definitely sensitized me to how I want others to treat my child and I think my patience/tolerance has improved immensely.

Eta: and the yelling was "hey, don't throw sticks. You hit me!"

JessaPrimate · June 2014

LoisLayn23 said:
So what would you have done before kids if this is your tolerant version?

In this situation, nothing. He aplogozed and we both went to different parts of the playground.

I work at a place where children (and adults) can easily get injured or harm things if their behavior is not quickly corrected. And you know what, I was a bitch sometimes. Seeing bad behavior repeatedly wears on you. But as I said, having a child has definitely sensitized me and made me deal with issues in a better manner.

KittyMisha · June 2014

I've worked with kids for almost 15 years, preschool through high school age. I have mostly lost my inhibitions as far as speaking to other people's kids. I don't mean yelling, but I do not hesitate to let them know if their behavior is dangerous. This has gotten me in trouble with a few parents, but sometimes it is worse to let something slide than to take the heat.

Jolaine83 · June 2014

KittyMisha said:

I've worked with kids for almost 15 years, preschool through high school age. I have mostly lost my inhibitions as far as speaking to other people's kids. I don't mean yelling, but I do not hesitate to let them know if their behavior is dangerous. This has gotten me in trouble with a few parents, but sometimes it is worse to let something slide than to take the heat.

This is different to me. I'm in a similar position with years of experience with kids of all ages and I don't hesitate to speak up to a child if I feel it's necessary. It can be done the right way. And I would have no issue with a firm direction to my child if he or she is out of line by a well meaning adult. There is respect in that for both the child's feelings and the parent if you are doing the right way for the right reasons. An angry adult yelling at my child is what I take issue with, not someone trying to help my child.

BeachM · June 2014

I wouldn't say I've yelled at anyone's kid, but there is a family whose house backs up to the playground in our neighborhood and the kids are awful. Definitely old enough to know better than to do things like start rummaging through my stuff and taking food out of my bag. They have asked to play with the toys we bring and I have said yes in the past because I bring them to share, but then they purposely break them. I haven't yelled, but I have firmly told them not to touch our things and when they whine I remind them that they've broken our toys in the past.

On one hand I love that parents feel like our neighborhood is safe enough to send their kids to playground alone, but on the other I feel like it's completely ok for me teach them lessons that apparently their parents have not if they aren't going to be around to do it. If my unattended 8 year old kid just walked up to someones stroller and took a toddler's snacks I would seriously hope another parent would say something and remind him not to be a lunatic.

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