I can’t imagine me nor my siblings even contemplating for the space of a breath doing something like that. First the azz-kicking from my mom, then another one from my dad for showing such disrespect, to say the least. Kids will only do what they know you’ll let them do, and they’re always pushing the envelope to see where your boundaries are and how firm they are. Like little animals, they’re not stupid, in that they have cunning and instinct. But they want their parents to tell them no, unless they’re born sociopaths.
The biggest problem with the ones like the one you saw is, they come to believe that if they can get away with it with their parents, then they need respect no authority. She can just keep walking the day he gets his first sentence too.
And that’s probably where he will end up.
Many parents today seem to favor the ignore tactic. Let them scream in your face for half an hour, or assault you like I saw today, but if you just don’t acknowledge it, they’ll get tired and stop. Yeah, right. I know my mom would have “ignored” me for as long as it took to set her purse down so she could grab me and spank my behind-—in public, if necessary.