Well I am sure that we have all been a witness to that brat of a child in the grocery store line that refuses to behave themselves, and for most parents at one point or another that child has been our very own. Maddie and I experienced this today, and I took it as a great opportunity to let her observe of what it looks like from a different perspective.
I am guessing this little girl was around the age of 3, who we will call bratty Betsy for the sake of the story. I noticed her behavior from the minute that we stepped in line and started loading up our groceries. It just so happened that Maddie was carrying her baby doll in the store and Betsy bravely approached her invading her space and questioning her about her baby doll.
In the meantime the mom and the grandma are ranting and raving about the great deals they got (which I can appreciate the excitement of a good deal/coupon, but know where your child is). Little did they know their little Betsy was in the process of making Maddie really uncomfortable with all the questions. Finally the mother took note and very loudly reminded her daughter for the 5th time to remain by her side. The cashier at this point is just about at her wits end with the obnoxious little girl, all in time for the grandma to realize that she cannot find her card to pay for her stuff.
Betsy from what I could see never started out with patience, but the missing card was what really sent everyone over the edge. This mother for whatever reason bought Betsy a York peppermint patty (like she was going to magically behave being loaded up on sugar). The wrapper ended up on the floor along with the drooled on patty as she headed for the books she spotted across the way. The mom and grandma are still trying to locate the card. The daughter ends up paying for the items and they are on their way.....or so we all thought.
Betsy throws herself on the hard concrete floor in a full on tantrum because she wants to continue to look at the books. After several minutes of this joyous show the mom finally just picks her up and starts carrying her. The whole time Maddie is just fixated on Betsy's behavior and is just taking in this whole situation for what it is. They finally made it out the door and Maddie looked up and said "mommy that little girl was acting very bad in the store and everyone was starring at her." I was a very proud mommy at that point, as any parent would be. The cashier made sure to tell Maddie how impressive her behavior was.
In the parking lot we passed Betsy and her family and I thought to myself what a struggle it would be to get her in the car after that situation. Although I couldn't really feel sorry for this mother as she didn't seem to discipline her daughters horrible behavior, but instead she praised it by buying her candy. Which the cashier later informed me Betsy only got because she was tearing up the candy that so evilly sits next to all the registers. I believe I was more mortified then Betsy mother, however maybe this was standard behavior that she was just accustomed to.
On the way home Maddie and I had a lengthy conversation about how unacceptable this little girls behavior was and what it looked like to other people that were in the store. I reinforced that bad behavior will not get rewarded (at least not in our house).
We have been working with Maddie on consequences for your actions. Sometimes she gets surprises for good behavior/actions or gets to go do something special with Ryan or I. So thank you to bratty Betsy and her family I got to teach Maddie a valuable lesson.
