Most Unpleasant Shopping Experience Ever

[bjarvis]

I spent my lunchtime today being a magnet for screaming kids.

After completing the necessary cabling work at the data center, I dropped by Sam's Club for some items on a list given to me. As I locked the car and obtained a shopping cart from the corral, I passed a mother and her two daughters. The kids looked to be about two and four years old and were clearly in the midst of a temper tantrum.

A temper tantrum doesn't actually do justice to these two kids. They were angrily schreiking at their mother, limbs flailing and jumping up & down, throwing the couple of toys they had. Had they been my kids, they would have received a quick cuff, been stuffed back in the car and instantly driven home with a discussion on how this behaviour is utterly unacceptable, then send each to their respective rooms for the duration of the day.

Alas, I'm not their parent. I skipped past them quickly and went into the store.

I went directly to the back of the store where the bulk of the items I was shopping for would be located. I turned the corner and there they were, mom and the screaming kids, now reasonably quiet. The older kid began grabbing items off the shelf and knocking them onto the floor. Mom told her to stop. Kid resumes her screaming tantrum and begins throwing items out of their shopping cart. I run away to the freezer section.

A few items from the freezer and two rows later, I turn the corner and there they were again, standing in the men's wear section. Mom says no --I didn't see what about-- and the kid resumes her screaming fit, grabbing items from the cart and from the table of men's dress pants to throw on the floor. My cart and I do a u-turn and head for toiletries & pharmaceuticals.

I looked at toothpaste (opting not to buy 'cause I think we have enough), grabbed some generic painkillers, then headed for the cash registers. There were four registers open, all with approximately the same queue length. I headed to the far line for no particular reason.

Guess who gets in line behind me. And begins shrieking yet again.

Mercifully, I was able to pay for my items and run for the door before the Screaming Family could begin even half-way emptying their cart onto the counter. I loaded my purchases into the trunk of my car and drove hell out of there in fear that I might somehow encounter them again before leaving the parking lot. Indeed, I don't think I hit the brakes for five miles until I stopped at the bank to deposit a check. I think my ears are bleeding.

Comments

[wescobear.livejournal.com]

There are ways to make it work, assuming little Johnny or little Suzie aren't howling. A local Philly supermarket chain had an ad with a Mom in the produce aisle holding a conversation with her little girl. "Now we're going to get tomatoes. What color are tomatoes?" "Red!" the little girl chirps. Mom puts a bag of tomatoes in the cart and continues "That's right. Now what else do you see that is red?" Any kid is going to get bored and antsy sitting in a shopping cart if Mom or Dad isn't paying attention to them. The antidote is involving the kids in what you're doing.

[bigfundrew.livejournal.com]

That sounds just awesome in theory. Take an 18 month old, strap them in a cart at a store and try to keep them occupied for an hour while you compare the cost of frozen peas and frozen carrots and no amount of attention will block out the 18,000 distractions and various stimuli surrounding them the entire time. We would try it as a couple, and most times, it led to one or the other of us taking the child or both children out of the store after maybe 20 minutes max. Same goes for a sensory overload experience like a crowded restaurant or department store. It ends up being too much for the child, the parent and other patrons.
My children are 10 and 12 and still can barely make it through an entire grocery store trip...and they're really really good kids.
Of course a parent should attempt it. They HAVE to. The problem comes when the child's needs are ignored.

[bigfundrew.livejournal.com]

but it's not just their needs, they also need to be taught how to act in public. We have many of the attitude adjustments mentioned below, as well.