Quote:
Originally Posted by agzg
I shouldn't HAVE to put up with other people's asshole kids when I'm out.
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I have had a lot of success with children in public quieting down when I give them the look and shake my head slightly so they can see I disapprove, as long as I can make eye contact. I don't know whether it's embarrassment or simply an unspoken boundary being set, but it's very quick and does not draw attention to the child or the parent.
At a previous job, there was a woman who used to bring her daughter to work. The time frame was over the course of about three years ending with the little girl heading off to school, so she was pretty young.
The child was considered a holy terror from screaming in the office to grinding crayons into the carpet. She would tear up people's work spaces because they wouldn't speak up to her. With me, though, every time she did something I didn't like, I would take her by both arms and look her in the eye to get her attention so I could tell her why it was unacceptable. It scared her at first, but little by little, she got the message. After that, she knew that when she was being good, she could come get a hug or draw at my desk or just about anything she asked nicely to do, as long as I wasn't busy.