No Brats Allowed!

MSNBC ^ | 8/15/06 | Victoria Clayton

[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....

[the OlLine Rebel]

Be aware that some more recent "creative" names are actually old. I've seen my share of "Lucretia" and even "Letitia" in graveyards of the 1700s-1800s.

[DelphiUser]

>>Pity we don't live in your area. My family would
>>probably babysit. My husband used to work with autistic
>>children and loved it.

Bummer, wish you were here too (Grin) so you know how hard it can be. Luckily, he is now ten and can be counted on to be fairly self sufficient if presented with a new movie/game before we go

[WolfRunnerWoman]

When dining out, if I'm seated in an area with young screeching and/or hyperactive primates, I ask to be moved to the bar section if there is one. I tell my waitperson discretely why I want to move. There are rarely children in the bar. Apparently even those who have children they cant/wont control still want to "protect" them from heinous drinkers. BTW, once I am moved to the bar section, I do not order alcohol in order to occupy a bar seating but not create bar income. This punctuates my point.

If I have already been seated and they park some howler monkeys next to me, I ask to be moved if possible. If not possible and my food has not arrived, I cancel my order and leave.

I find that most restaurants an d wait staff are pretty accommodating and thusly get rewarded .Those that aren't don't get my business.

[B-Chan]

My wife has a "creative" name. Her mom was a -- well, let's just say it was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Tijeras is a perfectly respectable family name...

[Xenalyte]

I'm only on the first day! I just ran across my new favorite word, courtesy of Feiny: "crotchfruit."

[HungarianGypsy]

You ever been at the store and found your kids getting on your nerves. Just where you're tired and everything they do seems worse than it is? A few weeks ago we took out the baby and the four year old. The four year old snuck a decorated notebook into the cart with the one year old, so he pulled off two of the buttons. We put it with the groceries to buy it. The four year old is talking almost non-stop. Then, I hear screamed across the store, "MOMMY!!" It was amazing because it wasn't mine. This loud little girl and her siblings were into everything -- so it seemed. Suddenly I felt so much better -- as the four year old tried carrying away a box of soy milk, thinking it was real milk.

[HungarianGypsy]

I've had a similar reaction when I've offered to get them a roll of duct tape from my car... Mark

My husband would probably take the duct tape.LOL

[Xenalyte]

OMG, I just got to the "It's Alive" movie poster.

I remember seeing trailers for that when I was small, and begging my mother to take me. Why, I have no idea, since the trailers alone gave me nightmares for days.

[the OlLine Rebel]

LOL! That is 1 of my TV memories too, from my young childhood! I never forget that baby bassinet rotating in the black space, then the long green fingers over the side! To me, it was just scary - I had no desire to see that!

[B-Chan]

"The adverb thusly was created in the 19th century as an alternative for thus in sentences such as Hold it thus or He put it thus. It appears to have been first used by humorists, who may have been echoing the speech of poorly educated people straining to sound stylish. The word has subsequently gained some currency in educated usage, but it is still often regarded as incorrect. A large majority of the Usage Panel found it unacceptable in an earlier survey. In formal writing, thus can still be used as in the examples above; in other styles, expressions such as this way and like this are more natural."

The American Heritage® Book of English Usage: A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English, The Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1996.

[DelphiUser]

>>Bottom line: If you can keep him from darting into
>>traffic in the parking lot, you can keep him from acting
>>out in a store. It's the same principle. It's the desire
>>of the parent, not the desire of the child.

Yes, we finally got him over darting away from us, it took years. You pick your battles with safety and win-ability as top indicators.

We make sure that he is
A) with us,
B) Not too noisy and
C) not breaking things.

I have dealt with people who were upset when he was going through a hand flapping phase, chewing on his shirt collar (an expensive phase) and other perfectly acceptable behaviors for a well behaved autistic child that really should not bother anyone. So what if he decides to walk on his toes all day, why do you need to tell me it's not normal? Who cares if while waiting in line at the store he jumps up and down gently while humming to himself? We are not talking about swinging from that chandeliers while spraying shaving cream on everyone, just some behavior that is not "Normal" OK, I got that, my son is not normal, thank you so much for pointing that out to me, I would never have known.

[colorado tanker]

I heard a radio host a while back go on and on about how when HE had kids he would make sure they never misbehave. Then he got married and his wife became pregnant. My wife and I smiled at each other, knowing he would shortly get his education.

[sasha123]

I wouldn't know about finding a baby sitter. Mine just turned 9 and I won't trust a baby sitter with my child. The only person who watches my child is my mother, sister, or 2 of my kid's bests friends - when they go back and forth. Then there was at least a year before before I decided if the rest of the family was trust worthy. I don't care who is recommended as the best baby-sitter in the world, even if they came with references - they aren't going to be alone with my child.

[sasha123]

So, obviously - I don't get out much.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Very good point, misterrob.

All too often I see parents wanting to be their children's friends rather than taking on parenting in a serious way.

[WolfRunnerWoman]

Pedantic: pe·dan·tic Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules: a pedantic attention to details.

[B-Chan]

Sorry to be pedantic. "Thusly" is a pet peeve. It's like saying "thereforely".

[B Knotts]

We're all talking in generalities here. I'm not indicting every person in a generation when I speak generally.

I was speaking more of the baby boomers who failed as parents.

Really, I think a lot of this can be traced to the turn of the 19th/20th century, when a lot of modernism (in the form of progressivism and socialism) began to take hold.

[MEGoody]

I have dealt with people who were upset when he was going through a hand flapping phase, chewing on his shirt collar (an expensive phase) and other perfectly acceptable behaviors for a well behaved autistic child that really should not bother anyone.

Some people are ridiculously impatient and ignorant about children.

Once when my son was small, we were at the grocery store. The big 25 lb bags of dog food were perfectly arranged at his height like a comfy arm chair. He sat down and grinned a big grin. He wasn't tearing up the bags, he didn't jump on the bags, he just sat down.

One woman couldn't help commenting "some people don't know how to handle their children." I said to her, "And thank God you were smart enough not to have any." She just glared at me while I smiled.

[Quilla]

tou·ché (tū-shā'): Used to acknowledge a hit in fencing or a successful criticism or an effective point in argument.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Carry on. ;-)