I wish I hadn't seen this.

EastCoastFamily

I was at BRU tonight without Alyssa.  Daddy took over so Mommy could just get out on her own.    I was having a wonderful time, putting together this awesome gift basket for an upcoming shower that I'm attending, when I hear and see this girl, probably around 7, being a little obnoxious.  But hey, it's Friday night, it's 8:30 pm, she's probably tired and overstimulated, and that's what kids do.  I've seen much, much worse.  Her mother, who was pregnant, slapped her, hard, in the back.  I heard the slap from where I was standing.  She started to cry ... not loud, obnoxious howling, but what I felt were real tears.  She was holding herself and crying, and she looked humiliated.  My daughter's face flashed in front of me and I just felt BAD for this girl.  Her mother said, "I have told you FIVE TIMES to cut the crap.  Do it again, I slap you again."  She was still crying, looking down at the floor, when her father said, "Act like a baby, get treated like a baby."  He picked her up and put her in the shopping cart.  They walked away. 

Was she being obnoxious?  Yes.

Did she need to be spoken to?  Yes. 

Did she need to be discplined?  Yes. 

Did she need to be slapped in the back and then put in the cart?  I don't think so.

 

 I know we all have one opinion or other about spanking.  I don't think this was a spanking and I don't think it was necessary in public.  My heart felt sad for her.

PenguinGirl06

OMG. ?Like you said, everyone can have their opinion, but I think that is cruel and sad. ?Wow.

mrs.magoo

That is really bad. I hate when I see kids being mistreated....you always think - do I say something? Will it just make it worse?

Mrs.Darah

Slapping a child in the back like that is not spanking, no matter how you want to make yourself feel better by calling that. That's belting your kid. There is no excuse. Take them to the car. Both parents were there, there's no reason that that should have happened. I hope they saw that you saw and were embarrassed. That poor little girl, I find this whole incident disgusting.

EastCoastFamily

well, I WOULDA said something, but *I* didn't want to get slapped in the back and stuck in a cart!!  Just kidding.  You know, I momentarily thought about saying something, but WHAT would I have said?  I wouldn't feel right.  They weren't beating her, they were just humiliating her and being asssholes.  Had they been doing something harmful, I would have alerted the store managers or something to that effect. 

EastCoastFamily

EXACTLY, Heather!!  That was SO not giving a spanking!!  And I thought that too, I hope they saw me noticing.  "Disgusted" is the perfect way to describe this entire situation.

mrs.magoo

I know what you mean...things like that happen and you're just in shock - what could you possibly say I can remember my mother threatening to spank me in Child World (toy store) in front of everyone...of course she never spanked me, not even once, but the threat was enough to make me stop acting like a brat....the sad thing about the situation you saw though, is that the reason the little girl was probably acting like that was probably because it was past her bedtime or nearing it like you mentioned - so really parents shouldn't have blamed anyone but themselves for her behavior...

tmp-62868

That's awful Makes me physically ill that someone could treat their child like that AND make it out to be the child's fault.