Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
As all of my posts indicate, parenting begins at home. If you are unfortunate enough to have a loud and obnoxious child, that child generally didn't become that way in that public place. That child was that way at home or you observed a pattern of behavior somewhere and you didn't take care of it before you took that demon to a public place. All children have their ways about them but people can detect an out of control kid with clueless parents from miles away.
As I said, parents should eventually learn how to discipline their children (at home and) in public so that every outing doesn't become hell on Earth for themselves and others. I know what works in my household and people should figure out what works in theirs unless they plan on spending their lives at home.  |
By that same token, as I said, you cannot assume that because a child is obnoxious, the parents aren't doing their job. Some children are going to act out and you really can't know whether or not the parents are doing all that they can. My cousins were my example because they literally have tried everything (including a child psychologist to determine if there was a problem they were missing that was causing her to act out, like ADHD-so far two doctors have prescribed perseverance in their disciplining). The fact is, she's not a bad kid, she's just a really, really, really annoying one and is hell bent on being LOUDLY annoying at times. And her parents are better parents than 99.9% of the parents out there but they're probably going to have to continue to leave a few restaurants. It doesn't indicate that they don't know what they're doing or aren't trying. Again, children are individuals. Some individuals cannot be controlled at all times. It's a fact of life.
By your own advice the example I used is perfect. They have found a technique that works perfectly both at home and in public-when she refuses to respond to attempts at discipline, they remove her from the situation. It's their choice to refrain from using spanking etc. and to leave situations when they need to. That, IMO, makes them amazing parents.
PS-It is not a statement of fact that a child who begins yelling and misbehaving in a restaurant was doing so prior to arriving.