- Last weekend, I was grocery shopping, and I was walking down the aisle when all of a sudden a child who was running between the aisles bumped into me. I guess he must have been around 8 years old.
Now, neither one of us fell nor anything, but for the child, it was quite the bump; he stumbled backwards a few steps. He looks up and says, “Sorry, mister.” Just as I was about to say, “It’s okay buddy,” his mother shows up behind him, grabs him by the wrists, and leads him away. I hear her say, “Don’t apologize, it’s his mistake, he didn’t see you.”
This actually shocked me. This child was behaving perfectly as any polite human being would, yet his mother is steering him towards rude behavior. The mother has obviously been entitled for who knows how long. Nothing is ever her fault; everyone makes mistakes but her.
But it saddens me that this child is now growing up to be just like her. He is learning this entitled behavior and his politeness is being driven away.
- One user commented on this story:
The fact that he apologized in the first place makes me think he has at least someone in his life who teaches him how to behave properly, and he might understand by himself later how his mother is mistaken. I hope so, anyway. He wouldn’t be the first kid in history to be ashamed of his parents’ terribly entitled and obnoxious behavior.
- I worked at a place popular for selling poultry cooked in a Southern manner.
I had one mother come in with seven or so children. She let them throw food, chuck it on the floor, and smear it on the windows. All while smiling placidly at them.
I always wanted to ask if she let them do that at home. Why would you let your kids do that in public? I mean, I understood the really little ones making a little mess, but it was insane.
There was a dad who spilled soda all over our floor and just snatched his kid and ran out. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but come on, we’re not going to scream at you. Just tell me so I can get a mop and clean it up. I don’t want someone to fall.
Then there was the mother who screamed at us a lot and let her kids chew on our glass.
- Our town has a children’s museum, which has gates for obvious reasons. One Karen decided to force her kid to leave by holding the gates open while arguing. Instant chaos as other toddlers started to run to open spaces. Suddenly, two kids ran toward the stairs, and I watched in horror as one headed straight for the landing.
I raced toward my daughter, who was heading for the stairs, but I saw another toddler dangerously close to falling. I grabbed him just in time and handed to his grandmother, who was struggling to keep up.
Meanwhile, Karen was still holding the gate wide open, arguing with a dad who shouted, “CLOSE THE GATE!” Karen snapped back, “It’s not my job to watch your kids!”
I quickly moved to corral the toddlers, many of whom were making a mess in the art room, covered in paint. The manager arrived, and Karen began complaining about feeling unsafe.
But the other parents and I stepped in to back the dad. Karen was soon banned from the museum and escorted out, still blaming everyone else for the chaos she caused.
- I was up a ladder shifting some stuff around a top shelf when I heard a very annoyed-sounding woman say, “Go ahead, cry! JUST LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!” Startled, I look down.
She was talking to her son, who was older than a toddler, but not by much. He wasn’t throwing a tantrum or anything, just some minor tears and sniffles. She was berating this small child for squirting a few tears. I could just hear the therapy bills ringing up.
- I taught a lot of children whose parents clearly saw them as an inconvenience. The worst for me was an 8-year-old boy who had never left the street he grew up on (the school was on the same street).
He lived a 30-minute walk from the beach, a short bus ride from a national park, and near several playgrounds. He had been to none of these. Every time we had to do an assignment about what we did on our holidays, he cried, because he had done nothing but sit in his family’s restaurant and wait for them to be done.
He didn’t even get to play outside or have playdates with his friends. He was a sweet and clever boy, and I felt so bad for him. Reported several times, but nothing happened.
We were at an indoor play center when a mom let her toddler jump into the ball pit holding a half-melted chocolate bar. Within minutes, chaos broke out; sticky balls, crying kids, and one little boy who started rubbing chocolate on the plastic slide like it was finger paint.
A staff member rushed over and politely asked the mom to help clean up or remove her child. She rolled her eyes and said, “It’s just a little mess. Kids are supposed to get dirty, right?”
The manager overheard, walked over, and calmly said, “Right, but not everyone’s paying $15 to roll in your kid’s dessert. You’ll need to leave for today.”
The mom looked stunned until she noticed other parents nodding in agreement. She stormed out, dragging her chocolate-covered toddler and muttering about “judgy people.”
- The student came in one day and threw up everywhere. I called mom, and she said it’s her free time (she’s unemployed and lives a 5-minute drive from the school) and to figure it out. Then, she proceeded to send the kid to school every day to tell me I’m an unqualified teacher and I should do better.
Fast forward, kid gets suspended, and we do a “Circle of Hope” for students after suspension with parents, the dean, and the student. Mom refused to come and says this is her free time, and she is uninterested in joining.
The cycle continues, the student is now a year older, and mom is continuing the same behavior, except now the school is blocked from calling.
