BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids The obnoxious child

I try to avoid kid situations, it seems like they always go horribly for me. Some examples:

I'm at a family gathering talking to my uncle when my seven year old cousin races into the room shreiking, hits me on the leg with a big hard plastic sword and races out of the room. His father, not two feet away, sees this and does nothing. Two more times the kid came into the room and assaulted people in plain sight of the parents and nothing was done. Everyone was looking at each other like- this is nuts, but no one had the nerve to say anything. Only when the mother got trampled, did the dad fuss at the boy.

I'm sitting at the dining room table talking with a lady I don't know very well. Her kid comes in the room with a bag of chocolate chips and a menacing grin. She had chocolate all over her face and was shoving fistfulls of chocolate into her mouth. She climbed up on the chair next to me and never made a peep. When the lady ducked into the kitchen to get us a drink the little girl made a growling sound, grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and put it in her chocolatey mouth! When mom came back in the room the kid was hanging by her teeth from my sleeve & blowing chocolate spit bubbles as she growled through her bared teeth. Mom laughed and asked the little girl very sweetly to go play in her room. Then she shared with me the many other hilarious things the adorable daughter had done lately. Yeesh.

A friend of mine was showing me a plant in her yard when her daughter came up and said she had to go to the bathroom. She asked me to take the kid, so I held her hand and brought her in to the bathroom where she promptly dropped her drawers on the floor, stepped out of them and asked me to put her on the potty, which I did. I turned around to pick up the panties and they were SOAKED. After I cleaned up that mess. I sat down on the edge of the tub beside her. She stuck her finger in my face and said "eat it! I know you want to!" and laughed. I was so freaked out. When I told the mom what happened she didn't even respond. She just complained about having to clean up the puddle the kid left outside.

I know some of you are teachers or are otherwise adept at dealing with children. Do you have any advice for dealing with the really obnoxious ones? I'm really not keen on getting yelled at for disciplining other people's little darlings, but it seems like I'm always left speechless and bruised looking at my stained clothing in disbelief. Am I too thin skinned?

ok, the spit bubbles? I have to respond to this. Who do these people think they are letting their kids run around and acting like a bunch of dirty monkeys? You are not too thin skinned, i think someone needs to skin the parents. I think that way too many parents think that people will just deal with the kids misbehavior, b/c the parents think they are entitled. If this were me, i would have yelled and asked them to calm down, and then yelled for the parents to calm them down. That is just me and I also know how family gatherings are. It is better to be polite. I mean you can even teach a monkey to not wet itself. I may be mean but oh well.....

No, you are not too thin skinned.
You need to perfect your glare - the one that tells kids if you try THAT with ME, you will live to regret it.

And, never forget - there is more than one way to skin a cat. You don't dare discipline anyone else's kids these days even when it's well deserved but there are ways of making the parents actually pay attention.

The sword incident. When hit, collapse on the ground, screaming in pain. Crying helps. be totally unable to get up without assistance, and when you do, be sure to limp badly. Demand an ice pack. Sit quietly for a while and then leave the gathering, limping badly as you go. Overly dramatic? Perhaps. But perhaps they will also get the point.

The chocolate incident. Send the woman a bill for either the dry cleaning or a new shirt to replace the ruined one. If she doesn't pay up, dun her. She should have offered to pay for one of these things anyway.

The bathroom incident. Slap the kids hand. Mommy isn't there. If the kid says any thing then look totally shocked and say that the kid tried to stick her fingers in your mouth and all you did was move her hand away from your face. Note: if asked to take this kid to the bathroom again, I'd suggest declining. If the mother was doing nothing but looking at plants in the yard, then why couldn't she deal with the child's needs rather than putting it off on you?

wow Llyn that is really good. I love the limping that is great

I imagine you will all shun me after this.. but hey ho..

I was walking down the road to pick up my car (long story.. I had to leave it at a friends house as it keeps getting vandalised outside my own...) .. and walking towards me were two women and a child...

.. the child was running ahead of the two women and ran straight up to me and literally kicked me in the shin...

I was totally gobsmacked and looked to the two women to discipline this kid.. one put her hand over her mouth and the other one said 'whoops' in a smiley jokey way...

.. I waited another few seconds, but no... no screaming, telling the kid he had done anything wrong.. no apology...

So I knelt down to this child and said very quietly but firmly.. 'You do NOT kick strangers... and if you EVER kick anyone again.. I will find out where you live, kill you .. and then kill your mother with a big knife'

Kid started screaming and crying and the Mother rushed up to me 'What have you said to MY child?' ... I walked off saying ' Something that will hopefully stop him kicking strangers... as you don't seem to have managed it...'

Yeah.. it's the parents fault.. blah, blah... not his fault.. only a kid...

... bothered? no..

Hopefully the little [censored] won't do it again.

Wow. I so love you right now!!!!!

Good on ya Linux Lady! BIG thumbs up!

o_O Woah Linux Lady! Well, in any case I bet you've saved that kid from running into the arms of any pedophiles, since he'll run away from anyone but his parents! >;D

Sometimes you have to go to extremes when you are faced with an extreme situation. Sad but true.

It always infuriates me to see kids acting horribly and the parents don't do anything about it. vespertine, what terrible situations you were in! I would have been mortified--especially the chocolate sleeve and the bathroom episodes. I'm wondering too why you had to take her to the bathroom instead of the mother? I'd definitely say no way next time!

The saddest thing about these bratty, spoiled kids is that they will grow up and run the world...and then have their own kids...