The Store

A typical trip to the store seems to require at least one of my children to spontaneously burst into a tantrum. My 3yr old son has at least put together that he will not receive a cookie from the bakery (a treat the store provides) if he acts out in any way. And so he makes his decision upon each trip. Have a cookie or not to have a cookie? (Wouldn't it be nice if mommy's decisions were that easy...ha!) But he lives with the decision he makes. Very responsible.
My 2yr old daughter (going on 16), has not been able to comprehend that screaming like a banshee and/ or rolling around on the floor in a fit of rage for most of our trip will not get her a cookie. Even if she asks nicely on our way out the door! Needless to say, it has been quite a while since we have been rewarded a cookie.
On this particular day, the tantrum my daughter had started at the car when she decided she didn't need to hold a hand to cross the street. Well, you don't hold a hand, you get carried. As we made it over the threshold, so close to the groceries I could smell them, she wiggled free and threw herself on the floor directly in front of the shopping carts. So not only is she screaming, crying and throwing a fit, she is in the way of other shoppers and their carts.
An older woman who watched my daughter pitch a fit in this particular store on a past occasion once told me "Honey, you do what you need to do for you kids. Don't worry about anyone else!"
And so that is what I did. I explained the wrong choices she was making, that there were consequences to her actions should she decide that pitching a fit was really the decision she wanted to make and finally, I gave her exactly 3 seconds to get off the floor or we are going back to the car for a "family meeting."
However, in the midst of all of this, a young woman comes into the store and into her cell phone says "Oh my God! There is a kid screaming. Its SO annoying! I can't hear you, I'll call you back." She quickly turned around and walked out of the store. As she walked away, I made it to three, grabbed my daughter, now screaming louder and made quick work of getting to our "meeting." We passed the same young woman on our way out (she was already back on the phone by this time). I hear her say yet again, "Ugghh!! Its the same kid! I will call you back later!"
My daughter and I quickly had our 'meeting' and made it back into the store with no problems and quite frankly she was more than eager to help mommy out by carrying the basket (pat myself on the back for that!). Almost out the door, we passed that young woman that had nothing but awful things to say about a 2 YEAR OLD throwing a tantrum. If fact, she went so far as to  attempt to smile at my daughter as she walked by. While the mama bear in me wanted to give her Majesty the Queen a piece of my mind about where she could take her "important" phone calls next time, I decided to be a bigger person (and a mommy who sets examples) and just nod and smile. And so we went home.

I would like to think that the lesson I got from this outing and yes, there is always a lesson, is that it truly is important how my husband and I raise our children. People may not like our parenting, they may not care to hear the tantrums, they may think we are doing it all wrong. But I know, like the woman said to me, I am doing what I feel in my heart is right for my kids. And I am so proud of that.

And for the young woman we met today, I sincerely hope we meet again, preferably when you have a 3 and 2 yr old all by yourself in a store after a long day of work/school and you can show me how its done.