Posted on 08/15/2006 6:24:16 AM PDT by steve-b
For Cindy Nooney's 3-year-old twin boys, playing with the Thomas the Train set at their local bookstore in Southern California is a major thrill. Jack and Sam push Thomas, Arthur and friends down the track, they run around the table, jump up and down — and, of course, they squeeeaal.
Nooney expects as much in the children's section of the store. But on a recent afternoon, she was surprised by an employee who confronted her, calling her darling Jack a tyrant.
"He was a little loud but this is a children's section," says Nooney. "They run a noisy, cavernous bookstore but they don’t want kids to make any noise? It just seems ridiculous and leads me to believe that they don't want kids, they want silent kids."
The bookstore is not the only place that likes quiet, controlled children — and isn't afraid to say so. Across the nation, there are signs of a low-burning uprising against children supposedly behaving badly in public.
Eateries from California to Massachusetts have posted signs on doors and menus saying "We love children, especially when they are tucked in chairs and well behaved" or "Kids must use indoor voices." In North Carolina an online petition was started last year to establish child-free restaurants — the petition loosely compared dining with children to dining with cigarette smoke....
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Yep. Goes with the territory. My goal is to get as few of those as possible and we've managed to instilled that goal in our children as well. Doesn't mean we don't forget now and then...AND when we do, I always hope an apology will go a long way.
In fact, I figure the next time you get those kinds of looks is when you start driving. Ha!
Haven't had the nerve so far.
If the parents react negatively to the bad behavior, it's isolated. If the parents ignore it while it continues, it is the usual behavior.
I don't have much patience for parents who don't try to discipline their kids, and there are quite a few of those of the Dr. Spock, no spank variety. I swear, one of those could watch their kid swinging a sledgehammer at WalMart to break into a case to steal a PlayStation, and they'd say in a nearly inaudible voice, "now Johnny, please don't do that, remember our indoor manners . . . ."
My personal experience, however is that most European-American adults have forgotten the difference between little monsters and kids being kids.
Who raised the previous generation? In my case it was the baby boomers. I thought my parents did excellent and I am trying to instill that in my kids. I think that the World War II generation was overrated in the parenting. I look at my two sets of grandparents and their brothers and sisters and they are the ones who raised the baby boomers. So I don't understand what you are trying to say here. To sterotype a generation is ridiculous. We seems to do that all the time. My Generation which is GEN X is doing phenominal trying to pick up the crap that was left for us to fix. We are having families again. All of my friends have 3 children at least (in my high school graduation class of 209 kids). I can't say with Florida State too big of school). Quite a few have four children and two good friends have FIVE! We are only 37. So I say thank God for GEN X who have improved society a great deal.
Unless I misread you, you I said you physically intimindated a lady travelling with her kid(s). Nothing to be proud of, IMHO.
We are definitely in a more 'child-friendly' era. Maybe because it's become a money maker, it's profitable. Now, kids have been accustomed to a life and an era most of us didn't grow up in. They are definitely spoiled. The WWII generation of tough ol birds are forever gone. Each generation is becoming more thin-skinned, little more self-centered, and little lazier.
I think you're misreading me.
You are certainly imputing pride to me where none exists or was posited.
And now because it's gotten out of hand - we have those signs going up in public.
Ah, so others must suffer so your child can kick?
Try holding their legs down. Better you should suffer for your child than someone else suffer for your child.
Either you don't read, or you don't read well.
I do hold their legs down. At the risk of repeating myself, I'll say it again. I do hold their legs down.
I was rather unabmiguous--nay, crystalline--on that point in my original post. I believe my exact phraseology was, "[w]e try to physically hold the children's feet the.entire.flight."
Try to keep up.
You're right that I'm merely assuming pride, but it's true that you do feel that you intimidated her, right?
> I think it helped that I was bent over the seat
> back and about four inches from Mom, and I take
> up a LOT of real estate in a small area like that.
I don't have a problem if your autistic child acts inappropriately. I have a problem if you ignore it. See the difference?
That bears repeating. Thanks.
My children have better manners than some adults. They've been raised with THE LOOK. You know the one. But the bookstore deal? Shame on the bookstore for having a train in there to play on. B&N has a nice quiet corner with little chairs/benches and children seem to just naturally respond in the same way. As much as I am in B&N I have yet to hear the first kid squealing.
“He’s autistic, what’s your excuse for being rude?”
You are way too polite. I would have tore them a new one. lol. I can be really sarcastic when I need to be and I believe in your case with your young boy you can and need to be. I like your response though. It shuts them up real quick.
You're paying attention to this, right, Petronski? ;-)
If you were holding their legs down, how did they kick the seats in front of them? Do you need to lift weights or something?
Why anti-child attitude are dangerous...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684075/posts
I never blame the children for their parent(s)' bad manners, but I do vice versa.......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.