Child Training in action

[SpeakNow]

I'm in the waiting room at a doctor's office. There is a mother of a rambunctious 9 yr old girl. She has a ton of energy and mom wants her to sit still. Every time the little girl moves, the mom slaps her. The girl is clearly vying for attention--making noise and trying to get her mom to talk with her--but mom would rather read her magazine and have a quiet child. It's breaking my heart.

[Koala]

WTF? She's slapping her? I hope to god they report her ass.

[Witsec7]

I would discretely tell the nurse that the mom is hitting the kid and it's disturbing you.

[sparkles]

I would discretely tell the nurse that the mom is hitting the kid and it's disturbing you.

Definitely a much better plan of action than what I would do. Which would be to call her out on it, very loudly.

[SpeakNow]

Told the receptionist. She said they'll take care of it. They just called the girl into the back. Hopefully the doctor will have a nice little chat about how to treat children.

[Witsec7]

Definitely a much better plan of action than what I would do. Which would be to call her out on it, very loudly.

I would do that, but a nurse is a mandatory reporter, and I would also let the nurse know that I knew she was a mandatory reporter :D

[debrand]

do you mean that she is slapping her face? Tell the nurse. There might be nothing that you can do but at least someone knows.

[SpeakNow]

Not slapping her face, slapping her arm just below the shoulder

[myanimus]

I'm in the waiting room at a doctor's office. There is a mother of a rambunctious 9 yr old girl. She has a ton of energy and mom wants her to sit still. Every time the little girl moves, the mom slaps her. The girl is clearly vying for attention--making noise and trying to get her mom to talk with her--but mom would rather read her magazine and have a quiet child. It's breaking my heart.

/quote]

I'd have a really hard time not asking her if she'd like to go a round with someone her own size. Hope she's not there to find out if she's pregnant...

[mpheels]

Told the receptionist. She said they'll take care of it. They just called the girl into the back. Hopefully the doctor will have a nice little chat about how to treat children.

Good. At the very least the doctor will be alert for signs of abuse that might otherwise be shrugged off as normal childhood bumps and bruises.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Good on you for telling the receptionist, hopefully you made a difference to this little girls life.

[sparkles]

If that's what this woman does to her child in public, I can only imagine what she does in private. Scary and depressing.

Thank you for making a difference.

[jokersshh]

That was smart to tell the office

[Mela99]

Humanity sucks. I might have pulled my phone out and started taping her. THEN told on her.

[Funintended]

Good for you for reporting. I was at a store the other day and some non-English speaking (Couldn't decipher what language) mother was shouting at her daughter (8or9 yrs old) and then slapped her. I Stopped what I was doing and stared at them. The mom continued in her angry tone but then noticed I was watching so calmed a bit but continued on a lecture. Finally the daughter turned, slapped her mom and walked away.

I was like, WTF?! In a store, what are you supposed to do about adults hitting children? I can't even wrap my mind around the gall that woman had to do that.

I have kids that might piss me off but I never slap them and I sure as heck wouldn't slap them in public no matter how pissed off I'd get. I don't know how you could do that to a child.

[Trynn]

One of my friends told me that when she was a kid she put nail polish on her eyelid, intending to use it like eyeshadow. It started hurting really really bad, and when she went downstairs to tell her mom, her mom promptly started slapping her. My friend was like, "why are you slapping me woman, I'm already in pain!" as she was telling this to me, and I'm sitting there going, "my god, you're mom is a child abuser!"

[mpheels]

Good for you for reporting. I was at a store the other day and some non-English speaking (Couldn't decipher what language) mother was shouting at her daughter (8or9 yrs old) and then slapped her. I Stopped what I was doing and stared at them. The mom continued in her angry tone but then noticed I was watching so calmed a bit but continued on a lecture. Finally the daughter turned, slapped her mom and walked away.

I was like, WTF?! In a store, what are you supposed to do about adults hitting children? I can't even wrap my mind around the gall that woman had to do that.

I have kids that might piss me off but I never slap them and I sure as heck wouldn't slap them in public no matter how pissed off I'd get. I don't know how you could do that to a child.

Way back in the '50s, my grandmother was in the general store and she saw a woman out on the side walk hitting her young son. This was in a very small town (less than 1000 people), and the kid was one of my mother's classmates. My grandmother was a petite, shy, perfectly polite Southern lady who always avoided conflict, but she couldn't bear to see a child treated like that. She put down her shopping basket, walked out to the sidewalk, and very calmly told the woman that everyone in store could see her, the whole town knew what she was doing, and that no child should ever be treated in that manner. That little boy grew up, and told that story at my grandmother's funeral nearly 60 years later.

[sissyintexas]

The mom continued in her angry tone but then noticed I was watching so calmed a bit but continued on a lecture. Finally the daughter turned, slapped her mom and walked away.

So, the 8 year old slapped her mom? I guess we know where she learned it.

[Funintended]

So, the 8 year old slapped her mom? I guess we know where she learned it.

I know, right? Like, how did that provide any solution to the problem worth yelling and hitting about?