GainesvilleMoms.com

So I just have to vent this-
Colin has a virus so I took him to his pediatrician this morning. When we were leaving, I was putting Colin in the car, across the parking lot there was a man and a woman with a baby in her arms. There was also a 2ish yr old girl in the car. The man was raging on the woman, cussing, the whole thing. I kept watching because I was concerned for the baby. Then the man starts yelling at the little girl in the car saying things like- "I'll beat the sh%@ out of you"-
I was fuming!!! I didn't want to make things worse for the mother, but I desperately wanted to ask if she needed any type of help-
Well, I called the Pediatricians office and told them what I saw and I was concerned for the children-
Thankfully, the woman on the phone didn't think I was a wacko- and thanked me for calling and said she would inform the Provider and said I did the right thing-
Well that ruined my day! But I am so glad I did something and hopefully someone can help-
I feel so strongly that if someone is capable of talking to a small child that way, they are definitely capable of physically hurting the child- ugh, I just had to get that off my chest!
-Amanda

You have amazing restraint, I think I would have said soemthing and likely had the whole thing blow un and made worse but then I never claimed to be tactful. I can't imagine seeing this in public where one is usually restrained with behavior - what must go on at home?? Lets hope it was just a really bad moment in a really bad day and that Dad was just at the end of his rope. Not that I am excusing his actions or words, but I am just hoping....ya know? I have to remind even my hubby from time to time that the kids are too young to appreciate that he is kidding when he raises his voice and makes ugly faces - and if he ever talks to me or them the way that Dad did, he'd better give his soul to God because his hind end will be all mine!!

Did you write down the tag number? You can call the police and they can send someone out to the address on the tag and do a well being check and contact DCF if need be.

I hate to see this too Amanda. It's like you want to do something, but you don't really know what has just happened to cause the outburst. There's really no excuse for talking to your kids like that though. Of course I applaud you for having the moxie to do something. Most people just let it go.

On another side of this coin. I was in the mall a while back and my little one was just being a holy terror. The plan was to let the kids play at the tree for a while then leave, but because she was being so bad, E had to sit it out. Well this caused a tantrum of epic proportions. And I actually had to restrain her (by holding her in my arms, not like handcuffs or anything And she is so strong) And my voice was raised somewhat , but I wasn't threatening or cursing at her, just telling her no playing while she acted like that and that i was dissapointed in her behavior. This woman walked by me and said "Not in public lady". I was thoroughly offended. How dare someone question my parenting ability when they have no clue what brought us to that point. So I shot back, "you don't like it? Call the cops."
Probably I was frustrated already and should have ignored her, and probably I should have taken E to the bathroom to wait out the tantrum in semi-privacy, but there are no bathrooms on that end of the mall so what was I to do? Drag her out to the car kicking and screaming...that would have looked worse in my opinion.

Yeah, in retrospect, when we took Macy to Sea World for her 2nd b'day, she was acting up quite a bit and I sat outside the shark encounter (for the 5th trip thru) and I heard her yelling from out there and then she abruptly quit. I look over and see Daddy walking out holding her and she is crying quite hard and some lady walks over to him and tells him he was being much too firm on such a small child. SHe had no idea what had been going on but saw fit to intervene without asking. Mind you he didn't cuss or hit her, he just picked her up and removed her from the area but she put on a performance of Oscar proportions.

Kristin- yes I actually did take the tag number and gave that to the office manager at the Peds. office. I didn't know I could call law enforcement though, thanks!

And yes, this was not your normal frustration with a toddler. This was extreme cussing and hostile. I never want to intervene with a parent and a tantrum, I can understand those moments. This was scary. I don't want to sound like I'm one of those 'freaky' people-haha

When I was about 20 yrs old I was working at an Eckerds drug store as a cashier and a woman slapped her child in the face, right in front of me. I always regretted that I didn't say or do anything. So part of me was reminded of that day- and I swear I will never turn a blind eye again when it comes to a child. But not in a radical way- I'm definitely not a vigilante.

Wow I can't wait...right now I look at little J and think, "He could never do that to me. He is so sweet..." My reality check is coming...I can feel it.

Amanda - That was really awesome of you to take the time to make sure those children were OK and to report what you saw. That is just so sad. I simply cannot understand how parents can act that way toward their children. And it's also sad to think that the mom didn't feel as though she could step in and control the situation. She probably felt powerless.

Hopefully the pediatrician will now be sure to check into any problems in the household.

My daughter has had some tantrums in public before but nothing too bad (yet). But I know that there is nothing she could ever do, no matter how bad she was acting, to make me talk to her that way. A parent should NEVER threaten a child like that. Ugh, it's awful. Those poor little babies.

Oh, I hate hearing stories like this. If that parent would say something like that in a public parking lot, I don't even want to imagine what he says or does in the privacy of their own home. Families should be full of love, and I sometimes forget that there are some homes in the world that are full of hatred and violence.

Thank you for passing that info along to the doctor's office. I hope I would have done the same.