Weekends, Eating Out, and Cars
In my younger days, the weekends were the "it's party-time" days. I'm not young anymore. I realized this when on Friday night I was looking forward to Monday. That's when my 8 year old goes back to school. Don't get me wrong, I love my child beyond even my comprehension, but spending the weekend listening to "I'm bored" or "Can we go here, or there" and "Mom,can you buy me this and buy me that, please,please,please?" gets to me after awhile. And it rained almost the entire weekend, which meant playing 150 games of "Go Fish". And as usual I succumbed to her 8 year old (going on 30 year old) charm, and said "yes" to taking her to the local carnival on Sat. (in between rain storms).
It was quite interesting. Before the carnival, I took her to dinner. It was very nice, we ordered, talked girl talk, giggled at the cute waiter. Then it happened. Screaming, crying, fit-throwing children right behind us. We tried very hard to ignore it, and it was working until a cell phone rang beside us. Ok, I'm trying to eat, spend some time with my child and we have Mr. and Mrs. "Eight is Enough" behind us and "Mr. Businessman" beside us taking every call on his phone that came in. (I learned his ringtone by heart) And my daughter asks me, "Mom, why are those kids yelling"? And I say, because their parents don't know how to behave in public. I say parents because if they raised their children to have manners, the kids wouldn't act this way.(no, the kids didn't have ADHD, ADD or anything like that, they were just having temper tantrums because they didn't get what they wanted). My daughter knows better than to act up in restaurants and such. If she ever tried or began to pitch a fit, out the door we went. I absolutely will not let her interupt someone else's meal. And by God she never has. To this day she sits quietly, talks quietly and behaves herself. And it doesn't matter where we are. She was taught how to behave. I was so proud.
After we finished eating, we go to the car to head to the carnival. Ok, so we are not going. The alternator belt went out as we are driving to it. Thank God for AAA.
She had a temper tantrum.......in the car. :)
Is it Monday yet?
It was quite interesting. Before the carnival, I took her to dinner. It was very nice, we ordered, talked girl talk, giggled at the cute waiter. Then it happened. Screaming, crying, fit-throwing children right behind us. We tried very hard to ignore it, and it was working until a cell phone rang beside us. Ok, I'm trying to eat, spend some time with my child and we have Mr. and Mrs. "Eight is Enough" behind us and "Mr. Businessman" beside us taking every call on his phone that came in. (I learned his ringtone by heart) And my daughter asks me, "Mom, why are those kids yelling"? And I say, because their parents don't know how to behave in public. I say parents because if they raised their children to have manners, the kids wouldn't act this way.(no, the kids didn't have ADHD, ADD or anything like that, they were just having temper tantrums because they didn't get what they wanted). My daughter knows better than to act up in restaurants and such. If she ever tried or began to pitch a fit, out the door we went. I absolutely will not let her interupt someone else's meal. And by God she never has. To this day she sits quietly, talks quietly and behaves herself. And it doesn't matter where we are. She was taught how to behave. I was so proud.
After we finished eating, we go to the car to head to the carnival. Ok, so we are not going. The alternator belt went out as we are driving to it. Thank God for AAA.
She had a temper tantrum.......in the car. :)
Is it Monday yet?
12 Comments:
I lucked out. My oldest, now at driving age, never threw a fit like the kind you described. Never. I don't know why. I thought all kids did this at least once. But restaurants need sections. Kids with brats at the back by the exit.
By Downscope, May 08 06 9:12 AM
Good for you, crzydync. My kids never EVER had tantrums in public. [ Seldom at home, either, and never enough to qualify as an actual ' hissy fit'] They valued their lives and knew when to be quiet and just eat their lunch like semi - well brought up children. :)
By ktstew, May 08 06 9:27 AM
Kids...What you put in... you get out !
Spoilt brats have to learn somewhere !
Children do learn their manners at home, but even the best can still surprise.
By s-m-w, May 08 06 9:50 AM
I probably would have been a bit more sympathetic to the situation if one of the parents had explained 3 of the 4 children had ADHD or something. But when 1 of them has a tantrum over wanting french fries and not a baked potato, and another one having a tantrum over getting Sprite instead of a Sierra Mist and yet the other one having a fit over not being able to sit next to her dad, it becomes a problem for me. Especially when the parents give into them, give them what they want and they still have fits because this one is pinching that one. *deep sigh* My child is by no means perfect, but she even amazes me how well behaved she is outside of the house.
By crzyldync, May 08 06 10:15 AM
I hear your pain, just hope you've got your seatbelts fastened for teenagers. Plus between girls, it gets pretty wild. My daughter was kind of sassy, but I was pretty much like, 'Oh my, just imagine how undignified they look' and that would snap her into shape at your daughter's age.
My son would pitch a fit because, he wanted his own plate or meal, and when he was tiny, we tried to divide a plate between the two kids.
I know that I also tried to take the kid out of the situation if at all possible, but American dining is lightweight compared to French! THey expect those kiddies to hold out for three hours at the table and you're just thinking, 'no no no!' Then you get dirty looks from everyone just because your kid does not want to sit there for another hour.
I heard the worst brats in England of all places in an amusement park! Plus the mother was saying, 'Oh Mummy really is tired of this.' to a four year old in a stroller!
By Bruyere, May 08 06 12:09 PM
My son is almost thirty and periodically thanks me for raising him to be a decent person...my girls, [ who have come along when I am older and not so quick on the uptake] are slowly, slowly turning into great people, [amid the occasional smart remark or rolled eyes, anyway.] I believe their common sense will save them, in the end, like it did their brother.
Hang in there. The little girl will thank you for it, someday.
By ktstew, May 08 06 12:47 PM
I figure I didn't turn out to bad,so my dyfunctional parents must have done something right. I say please, thank-you, yes sir, and no sir. So I try to base my ideas (to an extent) on the way my parents raised me. (Some stuff I don't agree with). So far, she's turning out to be a pretty good kid. Makes me wonder how the parents of the kids in the restaurant were raised. (Mind you the parents were my age).
By crzyldync, May 08 06 3:00 PM
I remember in a French store seeing this little kid running around frantically and bumping into our legs as we looked at clothes during our lunch hours and the shop assistant was just wondering what to do...If I'd been in her shoes, I'd have asked the mother to take the kid out because he'd already knocked stuff over. If I'd have been the mother, I'd have never stayed there inflicting my kid's mood on others and besides, doesn't she know most men hate shopping? Even my newborn boy would squeal if you took him shopping.
So, nobody did anything and I thought, I could forgive the woman if she had to buy a wedding dress or, there might be some conceivable reason, but letting the kid bump into us and hurt us is really really rude...then I saw, the grandmother was there with the mother! Neither woman did anything!
Ok, I do have my limit.
By Bruyere, May 08 06 5:26 PM
Now I'm thinking if my mom used to think that way... :D
By glamel, May 08 06 7:09 PM
My limits were definately tested. It was all I could do not to turn around and say, "would you please just shut the h*ll up so I can eat?" So, I sat there in silence, while in my mind I was throwing forks at them.
By crzyldync, May 09 06 6:39 AM
Oooooh, I hear you!
I have a son, who is Developmentally Delayed and has Autism, and HE knows how to behave in public. All I have to do is hold up a fist (or point to my big toe if there is a need to be discreet) and he knows to quit whatever crap he is pulling then and there. Don't get me wrong, I never hit or even spank my son, but he knows that these signs mean that mommy has had enough and is NOT going to take any more.
PARENTS need a good kick in the pants these days. After all, they are the reason their children behave so badly. My sister once told me that she was ashamed of the way her son behaves in public, and I told her she was a lousy parent. For two reasons. 1) No parent should ever be ashamed of their child; and 2) YOU are responsible for the behaviour of a 5 year old! Suck it up and do something about it!
I have left the restaurant (That my son chose as a reward for good behaviour) because HE was being horrible!
By ecnalubma, May 15 06 6:37 PM
LOL, I understand ecnalubma, completely. My daughter is by no means perfect. She has her moments, but at least she does behave in public. I never expected her to have perfect behavior, but by golly she knows the score. Act up, and she's history. I take her home. Period. And she hated that worse than anything. I've never had to spank my daughter either, she just KNEW that I would not and will not put up with her B.S. (which is a good thing for her I might add...:)
By crzyldync, May 16 06 2:48 PM