[cluffgirl]

I thought this would be an interesting story, since most of us here have small children, grandchildren, etc... I was reading the comment's people left below the story and there are A LOT of people trying to hand out parenting advise, saying that parent's should be able to control a 2 year old. A TWO YEAR OLD?!? Really!? My son is 2 and is SO grumpy when we shop, and there is not much reasoning or explaining much of anything to him. He is just too young to understand, he isn't even really talking much yet. And taking him outside or to the restroom whenever he acts up, would make for a VERY long trip! He is fine at home, but whenever we go to a store he is terrible, and I gotta go to get all the great deals! Anyway's, lets just say if someone slapped my kid there would be heck to pay! Here is the story:

Stranger Slapped Crying Child, Police Say

[ms.laura]

oh f*** no! We would BOTH go to jail.

[hasheivy]

Oh my god that's horrible! If anyone did that to my son, stranger or not, they're gonna have to lock me up to. I don't think I would be able to control my anger

[NHartsing18]

THIS MAD ME SO MAD! MY HUSBAND WOULD KILL SOMEONE IF THEY DID THIS TO OUR BABY! The quotes after made me even more angry

"Pick the child up and go outside if it is crying...how hard is that?Parents today need parenting.. No wait parents today are still babys to..."
- My response- Yes let me stop everything go outside let me put my full basket of stuff inside the store so someone at the store can put it all away again. YES I am a young mom bet that is what I wanted and shoudl not be judged on my parenting skills because of my age. I know 30 year olds that are immature and can;t raise a child.

The mother should have taken care of it before her child made someone else so uncomfortable. There's no excuse for letting your kids behave that way.
-SOMEONE ELSE SO UNCOMFORTABLE! Are you kidding me! Have you ever stood in a store with a screaming child. IT SUCKS I GET EMBARRESED AND FEEL BAD! And this is no excuse to hit the child!

[bozzers42]

Originally Posted by ms.laura

oh f*** no! We would both go to jail.

make that 3 of us!!!!!!!!

[dunnricke]

It is never OK to hit anybody, let alone a child (but I probably would have forgotten all this and socked him back!)
I like to think I am pretty understanding when a baby/child is acting up in a store or on an airplane, etc. - usually I will say something funny to release some of the tension that is building up as well as reminisce how my own kids did this on occasion as well.
Though I must say, my screaming kids got less attention then when I would nurse one of my babies (discreetly) in a public place. It is amazing the opinions people can have about childrearing (and feeding)!

[LindseyLouXOX]

Nobody better EVER touch my children or I would take matters into my own hands...I mean fists.

I never say anything to parents, let alone touch their children...but let's admit it. When a 2-4 year old is screaming like an infant, it's time for the parent to take care of the situation instead of letting junior scream and drag him around the store and let him misbehave. If I cried, my mom used to tell me we were leaving. Guess what, we only left once. My 3 year old never acts up because...we'd leave! Thankfully I've been able to reason with her since she was probably around 18 months. Phew!

I am definitely NOT saying this is right whatsoever...just getting my 2 cents in.

[kimmyann123]

i read this earlier,and all i can say is,he going down!

[BeckyScott]

Originally Posted by ms.laura

oh f*** no! We would BOTH go to jail.

Four!

And for another obvious point here... it's Wal Mart. I don't think I've ever been in WM where there weren't children screaming somewhere in the store, if not 5 or 6. Seriously, when was the last time any of us went to WM and didn't see a kid having a fit?

Dude, if you don't like crying kids, stay outta the Wally World.

People have lost their minds.

[homeschoolmomof6]

That is so outrageous!!! Last time I was in Jewel my 2 year old daughter started crying.
A woman about 50-60 went by us and muttered (rather loudly) shut up. I thought that was really ignorant. I muttered back, "Crabby." I was so angry. Her crying spell only lasted a few minutes. If someone had slapped her I can't imagine what I would have done but it wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

[amandatockert]

Like one commentor in the story said they say the kid was "CRYING" not screaming not tantruming just crying.

I once had a lady tell me at the pharmacy at Walmart that if she wasn't sick she'd take care of my baby. He was under two weeks and I only had him there because I was nursing and I needed my pain meds after the c-section. I couldn't drive, but had to show ID to get the pills. so I was on a cart and he just started a little whimper thing to say" hey mom move it along.
She started with a very agressive you need to get that kid a pacifier. Hubby said No we are nursing and that will interfere so she responded that she would take care of him and I had to tell hubby to walk away I would catch up to him. She was so lucky I was drugged and still had staples, it slowed my reflexes down.

I've never understood slapping. I was raised with the phrase "never hit a child in the head or face God prepared a better place." and yep I found out where when I was bad.

[blessedgirl]

I have 4 children and they are living proof that you CAN CONTROL a two year old. Children are extremely bright and can learn to do what they are told if you take the time to teach them and set the proper boundaries. My kids are now 14, 10,9,8. I took them everywhere with me when they were little. I could not afford a babysitter so they had no choice but to mind me. To this day, we have very respectable kids. They never sass me or my huband, never slam doors, talk back, ect. This behavior is never tolerated in my home. My experience my be unique, but it is so nice to have 4 kids who respect thier parents and others and who know how to behave. This is just my personal experience with my own kids and I pass no judgement on anyone. We all must do what is right for our own children.

[goofy5]

he shoulda been slapped back.

[amandatockert]

There are going to be more crying kids at stores, there was a baby boom, at least around here. also parents are keeping their children not sending handicapped children to homes like they did in the older times, too bad people don't just stop and think.
I work in a library there are parents that come in with 2 year olds that are darlings and some that scream when they have to leave it happens. I feel for the mom with three autistic kids that comes in, sometimes I have to wonder if they coordinate things to drive her nuts, they will just suddenly scatter in all directions.

[carmended]

oh my gosh this man would have been going home in a body bag, cause I would have killed him for the comment about if she wouldn't shut her kid up he would. That right there would have been a major slap in the face for him!!

[kimmyann123]

i still cant get over this,its crazy!

[blessedgirl]

We would have both gone to jail if he had have touched one of my kids.

[schmidt00]

wow........ I have no words! I just wonder why so much scrutiny from people these days. My hubby took all three of our kids to Target the other day and somehow Kyleigh managed to get her fingers crushed in the auto closing door of our van. (which is NOT supposed to be able to happen per the manufacturer's touting... but I digress) He went in, Ky howling of course, and got ice and water in a cup from the snack bar and put her hand in that which only made her louder. We had promised our oldest that he could take his "yard sale" money and buy some lego's so he was trying to hurry but he said the kind of looks he got were astonishing. Like he had slammed her hand on purpose. He said at one point in the parking lot he thought someone was writing down our license plate number... over a frigging mashed hand. I mean really. How many of US had our hands smashed in car doors as kids? Me? MULTIPLE times!

People are too jumpy nowadays... let me raise my kid, you raise yours your way and we all go home happy.

[danielephant]

YIKES, that makes me sick!


But I do know how that man feels...I have a 18 month old that does cry in the store but i have been in walmart a few weeks ago and a ladies 4 year old or younger would not stop crying clearly throwing a tantrum and i NEVER let my daughter act like that, it is just rude to the other people in the store and it was upsetting my DD as well, this other little girl was screaming at the top of her lungs and the mother was just on her cell phone talking away...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I wanted to say something it was that bad!

But that man was WAY out of line!

[ChristineV]

I truly am amazed at te comments on that site. Until I became a parent I thought it was always the parents fault, but it really is not. I am very strict with my 2 1/2 yr old and she will stil act up at the store. I know what she wants to do is go and run around the store so when I do not let her she gets angry and crys at times. If I were to just leave then in essense she is getting what she wants, instead she getts a firm talking to and if she continues then it is time out when I am done. For this reason I do not shop with her that often in little stores, but the larger stores she is okay in for some reason, . Each child has a different personality so some respond better to better things than others. DS is great in the store for the most part.

Sorry this became a book but it really disgusted me to here everyone say the mom is a bad mom, I mean get real this is a unpredictable 2 yr old. No matter what the man had no right to slap another persons child and IMO 4-5 slaps to the face is so wrong for any child.

[cluffgirl]

Originally Posted by LindseyLouXOX

Nobody better EVER touch my children or I would take matters into my own hands...I mean fists.

I never say anything to parents, let alone touch their children...but let's admit it. When a 2-4 year old is screaming like an infant, it's time for the parent to take care of the situation instead of letting junior scream and drag him around the store and let him misbehave. If I cried, my mom used to tell me we were leaving. Guess what, we only left once. My 3 year old never acts up because...we'd leave! Thankfully I've been able to reason with her since she was probably around 18 months. Phew!

I am definitely NOT saying this is right whatsoever...just getting my 2 cents in.

Okay threatening to leave, at least for MY 2 year old, doesn't do much since I don't think my baby cares much whether we leave Target or wherever we are. That only works if they are somewhere they wanna be! If we left it wouldn't hurt him any, I just wouldn't get my shopping done!

[curlybwc]

You know I think it's really interesting that people are saying the mom should be able to control the child and are getting upset with the mom for "not doing anything" when most parenting experts advise that when a child throws a fit you do exactly that - nothing. Ignore them. If they're trying to get attention, a treat, whatever, trying to make them stop is NOT going to work. And honestly, as a mother of 3 kids under the age of 7, ignoring them is often not going to work either - sometimes we just have to suck it up, finish our shopping as fast as we can, and get out of there - but if I left the store every time my kids cried or were loud I would never get any shopping done and most of us don't have free babysitting available. Oh, and BTW, I'm 30, not 15 and my kids are generally obedient, they just don't do too well with 2 hours in a grocery store, which unfortunately, is often required when you're shopping w/ coupons for a big family. But anyway, I think it's great that this guy was charged with child abuse especially since I've seen so many stories of parents charged with child abuse for spanking their own kids in public.

[mrshorn1975]

Originally Posted by ms.laura

oh f*** no! We would BOTH go to jail.

Five of us!!!!

[lms28023]

As a non-parent I thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth. A crying baby to me isn't nearly as annoying as kids running wild thru a store. That said, I would never slap someone else's child. I'd expect a punch coming. As pp said, it was in Wal-mart and around here Wal-mart is usually a zoo. I go there about twice a year.

[lmps1]

Originally Posted by mrshorn1975

Five of us!!!!

WOW!!!

I think we would all be locked up. They would have had to call the riot police on me!!!