Thursday 27 December 2007

The first, but probably not the last

Picture it: Boxing day, 2007. A little boy woke up way too early and brought his daddy along for the ride. His mommy promised daddy that she would take Sacha out of the house in the afternoon to give him a break, since Sacha is purely a daddy's boy.

His mommy decided to brave the mall and pick up some calendars for 50% off (because she's smart and thrifty like that) with the little dude in tow. They shared an ice cream cone and seemed to be having a good time. Mommy then decided to go to a department store and see if she could find some sales on kids' stuff, mostly bedding. She found some, and then browsed the aisles to waste time with the dude. The little dude came across one of those push-around popcorn popper things and he pushed it around the entire store with pure glee in his smile. It was pretty cheap, so Mommy decided to buy it.

Then things got ugly.

While Mommy tried to wait in line at the cashier, Sacha and the popcorn popper took off, trying to make a run for it out of the store.

Mommy ran after him, grabbed him, and put him in his stroller.

The little dude managed to slide himself out of the stroller and take off. Again.

Mommy tried to strap him into the stroller. He collapsed into a pile of rubber on the floor, kicking and screaming. I hauled him over my shoulder, and he screamed more.

Then I thought about the situation: the little dude clearly did not deserve this popcorn popper thing, no matter how cute it was to see him push it around the entire store. Being a little shit totally disqualifies one from receiving toys, IMO. So I left the items at the cash register, and marched out of the store with the dude tucked under my arm like a football, and let him have his temper tantrum in the area outside the store.

I managed to get him strapped in to the stroller and we left the mall. Of course, he stopped crying as soon as he realized that he was not getting the toy, and tried to make amends with me by being all cute and cuddly. Ha ha. Too late for that, kiddo.

So there.  That initiates me into the "parents of toddlers" club, right?  Please use the comments section  to remind me that I am not alone.

14 comments:

  1. First let me say, I am very proud of you. You did good, walking out of the store is hard to do, but it works, usually.

    And no, you are very not alone. My first didn't really do the tantrums in public thing, which is why when the second one started, I was caught completely off-guard.

    Finally: it gets better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dude! You rule. That is so awesome. I love you for not buying the toy - or for that matter, not buying additional toys as I've seen so many moms give into their kids in public like that. That'll teach the little monkey.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kudos for standing your ground and NOT standing for poor behavior. :)
    When my nephew was 4 we went to Target and prior to entering, during the whole 20 minute drive there, we talked about how we would immediately leave the store if he started asking for this and that and/or if he took off from me.
    We entered the store and started our descend down some aisles. The kid spotted something on the end of the aisle and went to it and start begging and pleading for me to get it. I said nothing. I left the cart, empty, at the end of the aisle, grabbed his hand and walked out the store. He was clueless and didn't know what was going on so didn't cry until we got in the car and pulled away. Heh. He cried and cried and I calmly told him that I specifically said we would leave and leave we did.
    He *never* acted up again at any other store.

    ReplyDelete
  4. YOU DID GOOD!!!

    I'm so proud that you did the right thing! I have left full carts full of groceries at the store and had to come back later to gather it all over again so I could take my melting-down toddler to the car to make my point. It paid off. Now that they're 11 and 8, all I have to do is raise my eyebrows and say, "You're about 5 seconds away from a trip to the car." and they shape right up.

    Your good sense and patience and follow-thru will pay off as long as you stay consistent. As soon as you're having a bad day and you need to get the groceries by 5 bcus you have friends over for dinner at 6.30, the little turd will pick that exact trip to test you. Stand firm, your friends will understand and just order in pizza with you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm sure you are not alone... I just haven't gotten there yet... :)
    Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hahahahaha. Hahahahahhaha!

    Oh dear Mrs. Mustard, you are absolutely NOT alone.

    And wow, I sure hope you got you one of those kids that it only takes once to make an impression.

    But just in case you didn't, I'm always here....the one with good sense and patience and follow through, only with a kid who doesn't give a rat's @ss about authority.

    Either way, Nell is right. It does get better.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Welcome to two!! It starts around 1 1/2 and ends around 3. :-) Two is the year of extremes. Very, very cute!! then, out of nowhere, very very ugly.

    My son was the master of the age. :-) Thank goodness he's three now...

    ReplyDelete
  8. A gold medal to you, Sarah!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are so not alone. Bubbie's is 17 months and as strong as an ox, when he throws a fit I just let him throw it. Of course it usually only in a store or in the hallway on the way to daycare (when I am already late for work).

    ReplyDelete
  10. first of all, good for you! you stood your ground, and that's the only thing that works...you just have to keep it up!

    and secondly, if you substitute "Sasha" for "Zander", "Logan", or "Zander and Logan", this could be a post on my blog! seriously!

    Zander is 2.5, so i'm hoping it won't be much longer. Logan being 18 months...it's gonna be a while! ;-)

    no, you are definitely not alone!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I threw out my kids ice cream yesterday because she was being such a toad.
    *high five*

    ReplyDelete
  12. Not, not, not, and may I add NOT alone!

    ReplyDelete
  13. good job. I only hope I can do the same when I Evan gets there.

    ReplyDelete

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?