If the mom was a liberal pol she would... (add your reply)
My mother was “infested” with children (btw, I think that is funny).
Five kids in 6 years and we would follow quietly behind her everywhere we went. How did she do it?
She’d paddle our asses right in front of God and everyone.
“If you embarrass me in public, I’ll em-barr-ass you right back.” The people at Lazarus (now a defunct clothing store) received a real good view of my brother’s butt.
Spare the rod, spoil the child was the foundation of our home.
What she’s doing might work for her, as for me, negative reinforcement is called for with negative behavior, and our now 28YO son appreciates that.
“The three-year-old kept saying “You’re so mean to me,” over and over again. I tried to think back to all of the things I would have said in this situation when I had toddlers to defend myself against. “I’m mean??” I would have started. “You’re the one who...” But this mother said nothing. And without a reaction from his mother, this kid was firing blanks. “
Well I guess my Sociology 105 class has stuck with me. Its called “extinction” Ignoring bad behavior until a child stops doing it because they get no attention for it. American Indians historically use extinction in raising their children. And I think Eskimos.
I once encountered the mother of triplet babies and asked her, “What do you do when all three cry at once?” She smiled and said, “I just listen.”
My youngest went through TERRIBLE twos. I avoided shopping with him as much as possible.
Once I took him to the grocery store and he wanted to buy some candy and I did not meet his demand. He arched his back and thew himself on the floor, crying. I just kept walking with the other kid and stopped at an isle around the corner. All these shoppers gathered around him looking down. He had his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he stopped crying and screeched for me. I said “We are over here.”
He did not pull that trick again. He was mortified. Better he embarrass himself than take me and his brother down with him.
My son NEVER behaved like that in public. My husband claims that I slapped his hand the first time he ever tried... I do not recall doing that. Whatever I did was effective.
I went to the store once and a woman was trying to get her son to behave by talking to him and saying “That’s not how we behave in public.” The more he acted up, the more she talked. In other words, she was effectively rewarding him for the misbehavior.
People who allow their kids to misbehave in public really irk me.