Another children thread

Was at the red shed tonight. Standing at the checkout minding my own business. At the end of the checkout row, was an oscillating fan - you know the one that circulates the air in the office and moves from side to side.
Well, there was a miss about 4 and a mister about 6 standing in front of said fan watching it intently. They then tried to stick their fingers inbetween the grills. But the manufacturers are on to that trick and made the spaces between the grills too small for even little fingers.
So what did this inventive pair think of next.....

They stood at the sides (one on each side) and began poking their tongues thru the grills[:0][:0]
First the wee boy did so, they the wee girl had a try and the wee boy then decided to have another attempt.

No mother in sight so I left my trolley, purse etc at the checkout and flew across to them and politely suggested they not do this.
Mother then piped up from the next checkout with "that's ok, leave them to it, they will only do it once [:0][:0]"
Whilst that may be true, I bet said mother would be the first to sue the red shed when the childs tongue had been shredded or chopped off by the blades of the fan.

The young lady behind be at the checkout could not believe her ears. She was visibly shaking at the realisation of what could have happend in front of her.

And then, get home to a not-very-nice email from a school pupil who has found our website and is obviously an anti-fur protester. That is fine, but the verbal abuse directed to me is not. Seems pupil doesn't realise by sending such email from school, I have a return address[^].
I have forwarded it to the principal to deal with.

And from a prominent Girls School in Christchurch.

I suggested to the principal the student may wish to do a study on the possums and see what devastation they cause our native flora and fauna.

Had enough of kids to last me till at least Christmas [}][}]

Cheers
Jan
www.kozitoez.co.nz

I have just got home from work at the red shed and after being crook and having yesterday off, it started out real lovely, NOT. First a girl about 11 knocked over a WHOLE box of wrapping paper. They scattered from a r s e hole to breakfast. The mother didn't even say sorry, nor did the girl, or offer to help pick up their mess they had just made, just carried on while I picked it up. THEN, as I was picking it up a woman came and DEMANDED that I go shift that Cherry Picker over there. (There is a Cherry Picker in the store as they are refurbishing). I told her, I couldn't shift it myself personally but would go get Ron, the security man, he might be able to. The Cherry Picker men were on their tea break and Ron didn't know how to either, as I knew he wouldn't. I nearly come home again after 5 mins work tonight.[xx(]

Ha! to which Christmas were you referring? The one coming up or a future Christmas.

I can only agree with you. The bad behaviour I've seen from parents regarding their childrens behaviour is shocking. Especially in and around eating establishments. One wee tot was given a small chocolate fish to have with their 'fluffy'. Half was left on the saucer, the other half decorated the windows, table and chairs.

The odd time I've been in Mac D's and seen a family parked at a table, kids sliding all over their table and other empty tables, mushing their food into the table tops and all over the seats.
I sure don't want to eat at a table that's had a poohey nappied 2 year old sliding it's backside all over it.

If we were ever taken out for dinner, it was usually somewhere like 'The Wagon Wheel' or 'Cobb and Co'. We were asked what we wanted to order and we sat and waited. We had to ask permission to leave the table, even at home. We were certainly not allowed to smear what we didn't want to eat all over the place. We weren't allowed to run around either. We sat, ate, had a glass of fizzy and didn't pitch a fit about it. We were out! It was special! If we threw a tantrum we wouldn't be going out again any time soon and besides, it wasn't worth it. Ha! we'd get a smack if we misbehaved, so we didn't.

We weren't allowed to 'touch' in a shop. Look only cos if you break it, mum or dad would have to pay for it and there would be that smack on the bum to look forward to.

I'm positive we weren't angels but if we'd acted like the kids do now, well, we would have been smacked and probably would have had to stay with Nanna next time there was an outing. The threat of a smack was usually enough. Mums wrath was not to be toyed with. Even just a look was enough sometimes, although I was an argumentative little buggar and got my fair share of smacks I must say. But we never carried on like the ratbags get away with now.

This whole debacle of driving ages and restrictions is another example. Making young drivers get third party insurance and raising the driving age isn't going to stop the ones who are already breaking the rules, they'll just go out and drive anyway. They do now!

Motorbike riders are limited to 250cc when they start riding regardless of their age. Aren't they? I'm not sure if a learner or a beginner could go and buy a bigger bike, even for cash. So why can a young or learner driver go out and buy a performance car?

It all seems daft! I wrote a car off going for my licence at 16. It wasn't my fault, the cop sitting beside me at the time said so. It gave me one hell of a lesson though. I know what it feels like to hit a car doing under 50kms an hour. I don't want to feel it again.
Dad said it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me (he was glad I wasn't injured though:D )

It wasn't just getting a bad mark on my licence that stemmed any racy ideas, it was my parents! If I had come home with a speeding ticket or fine, I wouldn't have heard the end of it! It just wasn't worth the consequences. Maybe that's the trouble, the consequences just aren't that scary any more, either that or they just don't have a clue, or care.

Yakut

It never ceases to amaze me the attitude of parents, what kind of a moron would let their kid stick their tongue in a bl***y fan! More and more people seem to have these bad attitudes, no manners, no responsibilty, no common sense etc. Maybe it's time to be licensed to breed, sit a test to see if your're competant. I never let my kids carry on when we're out, they have to use manners, pick things up they knock down, all that kind of thing. I even clean up as best I can after my 18th month old at cafes after she's had a muffin - very messy! Kids will knock things over, make noise etc but it's up to us to teach them to respect others.

LOL - call me old...

When my kids were small I, and everyone else I knew, went to a great deal of trouble to ensure that they didn't scream and throw tantrums when you were out (shopping or visiting or whatever). They were fed, rested etc. When they got a bit bigger and tried throwing a tantrum in the supermarket it was dealt with at the time and didn't happen again.

These days going shopping invariably means being in the company of someone elses screaming or misbehaving kid, and the mother is ignoring it.

Husband reckons it is the Generation Y thing

I spent a few years working in various retail environments. It's a very enlightening area to observe parents and their offspring.

Many adults act no better than children while in a store, so I guess you can't really expect their kids to act any better when faced with such an example. Shopping is a funny thing - it can transform some of the nicest people into spoilt brats; perhaps because they find themselves with a lot of "power," to buy or not to buy etc; and they're getting "respect" from shop assistants, which just feeds the fire of self importance; and lack of respect in return.

What really used to irk me was the often missed distinction that an item was *not* theirs until it had been paid for. Certainly, if they intended to buy it, they should ask questions about it, examine it, see it in action if possible... but no. The general attitude was "I am the customer, I can do what I like" which involves taking things out of packaging (which can not now be resold at full price), pulling everything off a shelf to get to the item at the back (but not putting the others back), the list goes on.

If parents can't behave, their children never will. Me, I look to Mrs Weasley from the Harry Potter series for my parenting role model. I think she's great.

Yesterday I watched a sprog using the tongs to pick a choc muffin up from the bread counter..managed to get a fair bit of chocolate on the tongs...then the little [email protected]@! licked the chocolate off and put the tongs back...all in full view of his parents who said nothing and a shop assistant who did nothing...until someone[] suggested to her it might be a good idea to take them out and wash them. I think I'll stick to using my fingers in future.

My hubby has a theory that if there isn't a screaming child in the supermarket then they have a tape they play over the speakers - just so nobody misses out.
My kids tell me that were they were younger (5 under 5) I had a 'look' that could freeze them at 50 yards and they would immediately put both hands behind their backs to prove they were not touching anything. (wish the same look would work on the grandkids - and the dog)

Betenoir - after working in several food outlets and seeing much worse I know always use my fingers and never the tongs provided if we go to an eatery with tongs.

Growing up the 2nd eldest of 11 us older ones learnt to manage the younger ones, and if they misbehaved then Mum blamed us...she also had a 'look' that could stop you in your tracks. We learnt that to misbehave meant no more going out and a smack around the bottom ASAP...Mum never went for delayed punishment.

The kids these days just get away with it because they have never been taught the consequences of their actions...and the parents don't want the embarrassment of correcting a child in public.

Now with the anti-smacking law in place, just how are you meant to discipline them? Especially if the 'stern' looks etc aren't working? Personally I don't like smacking, it was always the last resort for us. It the parents who need retraining, people just don't seem to have the confidence to deal with kids anymore. And some parents just don't seem to care.

If MD threw a wobbly when we were out I used to walk off and hide behind a clothes rack or something! He soon stopped once he thought he was abandoned! lol The only thing you need need to have with kids is a stronger will than they have!

I agree MM, letting them think they have been abandoned works wonders and usually ensures a well behaved child for the remainder of the shopping trip! Well, it worked when mine was younger anyway, now I tend to leave him here with OH or send to a mates place for the duration, much happier outcome for all!

E has a school friend whose home she went to after school to play one day. The Mother doesn't believe in smacking, however both the kids have pinarta (sp?) sticks in their bedroom they hit each other with when they get cranky. The Mother just watches. That sort of seems backwards to me.

RKH it was funny one day, I was in Marks & Spencers when he had a real good'un! I hid, he was on the floor kicking and screaming and these 2 old dears went to investigate and tried to talk him out of it, but at 2 years old there's no reasoning when they are like that, I signaled to the ladies and said he was with me. They looked at each other and wandered off muttering to each other, 'needs a good smack if ya ask me....moan groan etc' I just laughed. Said "Bye, Bye Michael, mummies going home now!' in a loud voice. He stopped crying, jumped up, ran and got in his buggy and strapped himself in, "Can I watch Thomas the tank engine when I get home?"

Half the time parents reaction to their children little foibles is that they are embarrassed by them, and worry about what others might think about how they deal with their kids. I've never had that worry I generally don't care what other's think, their opinions are rarely helpful.
I remember being in a supermarket and one poor mum had a babe in arms that was crying, her toddler was on the floor having a real wobbly, I could see she was getting really upset. People were walking past tutting and giving their usual 'helpful' advice. I asked her if she needed any help.
She looked very relieved, I held the baby for her while she dealt with the toddler. It turned out he had autism, the shopping trip wasn't going well at all. She managed to get him to focus and he calmed down. The shopping trip was abandoned at that point! Can't say I blamed her!
It's easy to judge sometimes, we've all done it.

Swaggie that does seem a bit odd eh? Some very mixed messages going on there eh?

I agree Angie, it is mostly the adults who are the bitchy ones. Mostly the kids are polite and ask for advice on items. This one last night was, I would say and indulged child. The woman are the worst, but there is a couple of men who come in the shop who seem to have permanant PMT. Some of them are very very rude.

Unruly kids are one thing - but letting them set themselves up for what could have been a serious injury that they would carry for life???? I don't think many any of you mums would have stood by and ignored that.

Had a nice reply from the school principal re the not-very-nice email.
she apologised profusely and assured me the pupil will be dealt with appropriately. I guess they will now all get a lesson in both email ettiquette and conservation (of our fauna/flors etc from the ravages of possums)

cheers
Jan