Rude child; limited/delayed parental intervention

[Anonymous]

OP, I have a child who uses a device. Not a cochlear implant but a speech-generating device. Kids often want to use it and play with it. I don't let them take it over and grab it but I will show them how it works. I'm not blaming you but you can explain to the kid what it is and show him how it works and that it is not a Bluetooth or another earpiece. I explain to kids that my child is not watching a movie or an iPad and that they can't play with her device.

In this instance, be much more direct with the mother to get it back. Politeness has flown out the window.

[Anonymous]

In my decades of working with kids, I’ve experienced really egregious behavior only a couple of times. I’ll get some pushback for this story, but it works. A 4-5 year old was slamming into a 9 month old, knocking him over and trying to hurt him. I picked up the baby, blocked the other kid, told them mom. She didn’t give a damn. After 5 minutes, he still wouldn’t stop. I took him by the hand, just holding it, and told him to take me to his mother. Guess who was finally paying attention? His mother came over, looking angry. I told her that her child was trying to hurt other kids, and she needed to take care of him or leave. She left in a huff.

Flame away.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t a real story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am going to pick up on one of the PP's suggestions: circle back to the business and let them know what happened. Tell them that you definitely felt unsafe and that you may not be able to continue to patronize them going forward. Perhaps include that you were so flustered as well as frightened in the moment that you simply left rather than raising it at that time.

They may not feel they can take action given the delay in reporting, which makes some sense, but your call does get this on their radar. I would probably ask to speak to the manager and not the front desk workers - they can see so much (BTDT, there are some terrible, entitled folks out there) and can be hard to differentiate the merit of an anonymous call.

Also, while the child may have developmental issues, I would hope that the parent has developed better coping skills, including putting the phone away the very instance this comes to their attention.

What are you expecting the business to do about this? This is a weird suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid was probably autistic and mom didn't want to set him off into a tantrum.

AUTISM IS NOT AN EXCUSE.

+1

Checked out moms, you are either undermedicated or over medicated. Fix yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have a child who uses a device. Not a cochlear implant but a speech-generating device. Kids often want to use it and play with it. I don't let them take it over and grab it but I will show them how it works. I'm not blaming you but you can explain to the kid what it is and show him how it works and that it is not a Bluetooth or another earpiece. I explain to kids that my child is not watching a movie or an iPad and that they can't play with her device.

In this instance, be much more direct with the mother to get it back. Politeness has flown out the window.

I'm not showing a kid who just snatched something off my head, that costs a SH!T ton of money, how it works. No way. With the mom right there, I'm grabbing it out of his hands and yelling at the mother. No question. I'm not playing in this scenario. It really is hard to believe that this can be a true story it's just so insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m so sorry this happened to you. As a teacher I’m not the least bit surprised. I think most people would be stunned at how some children act today.

Another teacher. While the majority of my students know how to behave, there are always a few who don't. If I ever get to meet their parents, I hear the same thing every time, "He acts like this at home too. I don't know what to do with him." The best use of money at my school would be for parenting classes.

[Anonymous]

I bet if you had grabbed the kids hand and slapped the device out, it would have woken up the mother.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe this really happened but if it did the simple solution is to never sit next to kids. I'd stand up before I sat next to a kid in a waiting room. My main reason is I don't want to get sick.

[Anonymous]

Outrageous. I wish another patron would have smacked the shit out of that mom

[Anonymous]

If it had been an adult, it is nearly an assault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks you were in the wrong here.

This story is so egregious it sounds made up. If it isn’t, I’m very sorry you encountered such a badly behaved adult and child.

Think you may be onto something.

It is not made up. I know it sounds unbelievable, but it is true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t a real story.

Yes, it is a true story. Again, I know it seems outrageous, because it is, but it did happen.

[Anonymous]

I call troll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I call troll

I am not sure how many times I have to say it, but this did happen to me, and I am still angry about it. But thanks(?)
for your lack of support, empathy, or helpful commentary.

Trolls typically drop a story and then disappear. That is not the case here. I've responded to multiple questions, have provided details regarding how the child was able to grab my processor off my head, and have returned to the thread.