I just returned from a department store. There were 3 crying infants there, and their parents Totally ignored them!! Most of the time I look and these little ones are WAYY overdressed and bundled up, not to mention probably hungry and tired. Don't these parents have priorities?? We ALL need to holiday shop, and it absolutely breaks my heart to hear these babies Wailing.. Why can't these parents tend to their babies, or better yet, leave them at home with a sitter? If they can't afford a sitter, how about exchanging babysitting with another mom?
I know I'm in the thick of PMS right now, but I absolutely can't stand having tears in my eyes while shopping!!
Thanks for allowing me to VENT!

I do agree that sometimes people take their babies out way longer than they need to and dont unbundle them a little in the store and that all makes for a cranky baby!!

I have had to take my kids out on errands quite a bit, because of my husbands work schedule and sometimes they are cranky from the start even when we have not been out hardly at all. There have been times when I had to let them cry because I did not have a choice but to get some errands done, noone to watch them and I knew it was not hunger or over heating that was upsetting them.

I feel exactly the same way

It especially bothers me when it's a very young, teen-age mother who's out with her friends and totally neglecting her baby I want to just snatch up the baby and comfort it -- while giving the mother a piece of my mind .

I told a wailing toddler that Wal-Mart made me want to cry too. He shut up, and his mum looked surprised, but his baby sister looked really happy. I do worry about kids whose parents are ignoring them, but have never felt anything but sympathy for parents who are trying to calm their kids down, and failing.

LMBO! Good one

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l/ l/ l/
Dont go through life,
GROW through life

Real eyes...realize...real lies.

been there done that.. doesn't matter if I'm trying to comfort them or not.. I always get looks or comments.. I got over it

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Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

crying babies do not bother me nearly as much as whiny toddlers and grade school kids. i cut newborns and infants and their parents some slack. nothing irritates me more than a parent who gives their toddler or older constant threats, but fails to follow through on any of them because that would cut into their shopping. irritates the living daylights out of me. yeah, and before anyone has to tell me, i will say it outright: i'm in the better mom club on this one. LOL

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I can't stand kids who race around in stores, screaming and yelling, and carrying on. I tell them that they aren't in a playground and they need to calm down before someone gets hurt. They usually do. You should see the look on the parents' faces!

I am so used to getting on to kids at work, that I have a hard time keeping my mouth closed in public. I give my teacher eye often, and that usually works.

OMG you are so right! I was in the mall yesterday, and I told some kids to stop running before I even realized where I was.....LOL

one of my kids was a nonstop crier when she was little, i had no choice but to go out when she was crying, it was horrible. we were both miserable and the looks and comments i used to get were horrible. but we needed food, etc

judge not lest ye be judged....

Not one of us knows what is going on with these mothers or these babies (or for that matter any children) that we witness their behaviour in a store. Yes, I get annoyed sometimes with what I perceive as parents not "controlling" their child's behaviour. But, then I remember the time that my oldest son (at 3 y/o) decided to throw himself in the floor of Kroger and commence to have a tantrum. Was his first, last and ONLY tantrum in public. I'm sure I looked like a horrible parent when I scooped him up and put him in the buggy and kept on shopping with him screaming his fool head off. I still don't know what triggered his "fit". What I do know is we all--including children--have bad days and days were we'd like to just cry a bit. So, unless it's a family I see on a constant basis and the behaviour is the same EVERY time I see them--I don't draw any conclusions.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Have I died and gone to heaven or something? A kinder, gentler poster emerges..... Nice!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I never found a babys cry to be annoying.I always felt bad that the kid was unhappy and sorry for the mom that had to deal with it but the crying never bothers me at all. Sometimes it can make me laugh at the way some babies will cry.

The only crying kids that ever annoy me are (were now) my own. I could care less about other kids crying. Honestly, I just smile and thank God I don't have little kids any more. Once, my husband and I had to eat a wonderful meal in our car because of our oldest . We took him out to celebrate our last meal together before I gave birth to number 2. My son was 18 months old and very mature for his little age. He spoke sentences and "knew" why we were eating out at a "fancy" place. But, as we walked to the restaurant, he caught sight of a video game machine in the bar and wanted to play it. He decided to have his very first temper tantrum right then and just wouldn't shut up about wanting to play the video. We were at the point where we had already ordered, so we asked them to box it up and we marched out to the car and ate while he screamed in his car seat. Our last memory of him as an only child is screaming himself to sleep. I bet people who walked by thougth we were abusive. I doubt people were so quick to ask their little internet better mothers group if they should call CPS back then .... whew

Now that I have three kids, I definitely don't judge any parents! You are right about not knowing the situation. My three have totally different personalites and this third one has given me my money's worth! She is 18 months old and very tempermental! I don't go out nearly as much with her as I did my boys.

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NSDQ-Nightstalkers Don't Quit!

I cherish my shopping times without the kids...
but it does make for better conversations with fellow shoppers when one of them is crying or throwing a fit. My three-year-old tells perfect strangers he can't go down the Thomas aisle or go into toys r us because he can't control his emotions...lol!!
With the baby, he generally just is hungry, cranky, teething, or tired.

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i witnessed a boy (about 7-9) spraying Silly String onto a shelf in a drugstore the other day.
I was so tempted to tell his parents, but my DD talked me out of it.
I just couldn't let it go tho and as we left the store, we passed by the kid with his parents, and I asked him if he liked Silly String. He said yes and then said something to his parents. I sure would have liked to hear his explanation to his parents on why I would have asked him that!!!

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Square dancing is friendship set to music!

count me in as a parent of a Melt down child. I use to worry all the time about what others were thinking when my son had his moments in the store. I worry less about it everyday now. Now I worry about getting in and out as quickly as I can if I have to take him and the others with me. It's NOT always possible for me to shop when DH can watch them. So if I have to shop with them I have to shop with them. I owe NO ONE the reason WHY I'm there and WHY my son might be having a melt down in the middle of Wal-Mart .. If we were out eating in a nice place then YES I would do what needed to be done, How ever, It's totally silly of me to expect to shop in a busy Wal-mart store and not to expect to hear a crying child/ baby or one that might be having a melt down at the moment. I don't judge anyone nor their child , I don't know what might be the problem and I sure as heck don't feel it's *My Right* to shop in a food store of all places w/o hearing at least 1 crying baby or child while doing it.Other places as Movies/ Diners/ or fancy places to eat then yes I would expect some calm and at least a nice meal with out too much noise from a baby or child. However, I don't expect it every time I walk out the door to do something. After all, Thats what babies do when they are upset, Adults and Children of all ages can also fit this profile as well.

Guess I'll never earn that magical Mother of the Year award

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

I agree OP. Sometimes you can just tell it is a "tired" cry and those babies need to be home in bed. I know it is difficult, I am currently living my life in one hour increments. By the time my baby wakes up, gets changed, etc and we get loaded and out the door I usually have about one hour before we have to be home for her next soothing and nap. It makes life tough but I am rewarded with a happy, easy baby who is well rested.

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Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

Okay I'll be the b$%ch. if my kid was having a complete meltdown, I would leave the store, and sit in the car with them until they calmed down. I'm not talking whining, I whine for goodness sakes. I'm talking about the shrieking screaming kids. You are the parent, you have to set the boundries and be prepared to enforce them no matter the inconvience to you. I think many parents need to read their children better. A store with all of the noise bright lights put the best people on edge. A toddler, or a baby in a carrier staring straight up at the glaring lights are not going to be able to handle 4 hours in a mall. the brat with the silly string? You bet I would have told someone in the store. that crap stains clothing, can be slippery if it gets on the floor and ruin some merchandise. Where was his parent? If your kid is young enough to behave like that then he better be within your eyeshot. I do expect to have a pleasent shopping experience. A screaming 4 year old is no different than a teenager with a blaring radio. The 4 year old needs to learn appropriate social behavior, and not be treated as though their tantrums are okay because they are somehow special. The parent needs to show them and enforce the boundries. The teenager is only the grownup child whose parents thought it was okay they when they were disruptive in social situations.

When my son was younger, he had meltdowns all the time in public (before we realized he had Autism) - especially crowded places because of all that was going on.

Now, when I see a child having a meltdown - especially in the toddler up to age 5 range - I always give the mother a compassionate smile. I have been there - done that.

You just never know what the situation is. Not all "disabilities" are noticable.

Very well said.....Even now when I got in a conversation with a parent, and my oldest son is behaving, they will ask me if I'm sure that he has autism, because it's something you can't see.....

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"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

cause husbands like to pick out their own cereal too!!

why is this an issue?

so what? Kids cry! If you don't like it, stay home holed up in your house and shop online!! Good lord people...

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Grocery stores were made for kids! Thats why all the buggys have lil seats.

Maybe the mother does not want to be alone when grocery shopping?
Maybe they like shopping as a family?
Maybe it's not as big a deal to them as it is to you?

Perhaps next time you see a family out shoppping, you can stop them and tell them what you think they should be doing.

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l/ l/ l/
Dont go through life,
GROW through life

Real eyes...realize...real lies.

Since you're Ms Concerned Busybody and a family shopping together concerns you so, why didn't you offer to babysit the kids so the wife could 'get the free time she deserves' to grocery shop?

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l/ l/ l/
Dont go through life,
GROW through life

Real eyes...realize...real lies.

I would love to. Is anyone interested?

I am one who just smiles & says thank heavens its not mine screaming!!! My only one who didnt like shopping was my middle one my oldest & my youngest who is 3 now loved & still love shopping & middle dd still hates it!!!!

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mom of 3 greats girls

Not even worth it.

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

the crying babies don't bother me. It's the people who give the parent(s) dirty looks and talk about what they "should" be doing who annoy the hell out of me.

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"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? " ~Epicurus

I think what bothers me is when the parent is screaming at the child in the store, I don't mean correcting I mean yelling at them so that the whole store can here it. I always wonder if they know how stupid they sound.

My DD had an issue in Walmart one time and she was maybe about 3 yrs old, I was trying to be stern with her and quiet her down, I looked up and there was some lady literally standing there with her eyes about to pop out of her headlol I think that was the first time she had ever seen a child throw a fit before Anyways I ignored her expression and continued to tell my DD that she was going to sit in that cart and in no way was she going to interfere with my shopping that I needed to get done, after all I wasn't letting a 3 yr old bully me into leaving the store. She seen that I meant business and decided she better pull it together. I had an old man walk up to me and say " That is right, you keep on her and make her mind there are too many people that let this stuff slide, good job, don't give up" I thought to myself well at least SOMEBODY was understanding what I was trying to accomplish. LOL

I hate it when I see kids running through the stores and the parents do nothing!! Why do they think it is ok to let their kids do that? My son always tried to hide in the clothes racks and I didn't put up with that one either.

I think as long as a parent is trying that shows they care, KWIM? It isn't about what I think about it or how annoyed I am it is whether or not the parent is trying to be a parent.

All I have to say is thank goodness for the Dairy stocker at Meijer. By the time I would make it to the back of the store, one or both of my kids was usually falling apart and there was a nice lady who would take pity on me and give them string cheese. That was on a good day, actually, because sometimes I would only make it halfway before we would leave due to their squirreliness (is that even a word?)

Rebecca

I totally agree...Michael screamed non stop for 6 years...he was spastic/had seizures not controlled until he was six..don't ask..long heartbreaking story... and only slept in 45 minutes installments..so I was stressed beyond belief, his crys were like a dull roar to me after 2 years, NO ONE would watch him..it was a miserable life...but I had to do to the store, take care of banking, go to my Dr. etc. ect....and I had to just get the hell out to keep some sanity..
Daniel on the other hand who has autism was my shop until you drop baby..and still is..go figure

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"Cast upon this globe without physical strength or innate ideas, incapable in himself of obeying fundamental laws of this nature which call him to the supreme place in the universe, it is only in the heart of society that man can attain the pre-eminent position which is his natural destiny. Without the aide of civilization he would be one of the feeblest and least intelligent of animals.."
Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard

I had children that really did not want to shop...at all!!! I ended up doing the grocery shopping after their dad got home. There were occasions we would have to go into the stores - but we kept the trips short and sweet.

There are going to be times you just have to take them with you when they don't want to go but I don't think it is necessary to subject the entire store to 1/2 hour screaming sessions. It just puts some people on edge...that may have their OWN coping problems.

this was a column in our paper this morning- briefly, the columnist was shopping - dad sitting outside and 3 obnoxious kids running all around the dressing room with mom doing nothing to quiet them- shoppers left rather than confront the parents or speak to a manager / sale clerk.

Rowdy kids created Christmas shopping nightmare | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Local News Columnist Jacquielynn Floyd

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Bevogal

(Taken from the above link)
"They shrieked and bellowed; they rolled on the floor; they stuck their heads under the dressing room dividers and joyfully shrieked at strangers in varying stages of undress, "I can see you nekkid! " They thundered up and down the hallway, pounding on dressing room doors. They made fart noises.

LOL!!!! I can't help it but that would have been hillarious to see ! ROTFLOL !!!Thanks for the laugh of the day!

Wow. I can't believe no one in that store spoke to the parents or the kids. Sorry, but 5-6 is old enough to know better. Even if they weren't, they would've found out from me. I was once in a grocery store that had a display of cut orange samples. There was a young kid there, with his Dad nearby. Dad was paying no attention. The kid ate his orange slice and threw the slobbered-on skin back into the display. I loudly said, "Oh dear, honey, don't do that. If your Daddy was minding you, he'd tell you that the peel goes in the trash." Some people are such pigs, it's amazing that their kids don't walk on all fours.

David and me both try to shop together since we cook different things and try different foods...why is that so weird? You would hate to see us coming then sometimes..we look like we are straight out of some kind of the hills have eyes freaky big love show
David and me, Daniel and his aide, Michael in his wheelchair and his aide...roflmao..takes a conversion van to get us to the store just people wise...
But lots of times this is a family thing we try to do together..most times it is just David and me, but at least over half the time one of us has one of the boys with us and a aide...and I am sure we look quite ouitlandish sometimes with our pigeon sign and half talking to Daniel..
But could care less..I figure if it bothers someone sounds like their personal problem to me..after all Wally world is a no mans land to begin with
What worrys the crap out of me more is watching those kids use a buggy as a jungle gym and no one even looking at them...

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"Cast upon this globe without physical strength or innate ideas, incapable in himself of obeying fundamental laws of this nature which call him to the supreme place in the universe, it is only in the heart of society that man can attain the pre-eminent position which is his natural destiny. Without the aide of civilization he would be one of the feeblest and least intelligent of animals.."
Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard

I have to agree that watching the children climb all over the carts (buggy) makes me crazy. I have seen too many accidents where the cart has toppled over on one of them, or there is a baby in the seat that goes flying. It is way too hard to try to look at things while shopping and keep your eyes on the kids at the same time.

Don't get me wrong - I think it's great that parents take their children with them and teach them how to behave in public - how else will they ever learn? And I know there are times wshen there is no other choice - there is nobody else to watch them, etc. But you all have to admit that there are people out there that really don't care whether their sweet cherubs are disturbing an entire store or not...they seem oblivious to it all. That is the most annoying part of all...

What I cannot stand is someone out shopping with a tiny baby that is wailing its head off. From what I understand, tiny babies cry when they need something, they can't throw temper tantrums or such because they aren't old enough to.

One day while I was at work a woman was shopping and had a baby in the cart that looked like she had just given birth to it in the parking lot-still all red and wrinkly and had that tiny baby cat sounding cry. That poor baby was crying its lungs out and its cow of a mother just kept browsing around the store, making no attempt whatsoever to figure out what the baby needed, etc. Just left it wailing in the cart while she checked out perfume and other "essentials". She browsed where I could see her for at least 45 minutes, baby wailing all the while. That was just mean to the baby IMHO. It would have been one thing if she was actively gathering things like she had a purpose and was trying to get errands done while trying to comfort the baby but no.

Sadly I see this type of thing on just about a daily basis. I don't think kids should be catered to but a tiny baby crying needs taken care of, not dragged around the store for hours while mom browses.

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Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

You do realize that there are a lot of single parent families and military families out there with only one parent at home, too, right?

We have 5 kiddos and we shop as a family, too, but I don't take them when I know the stores will be a madhouse.

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"Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness."
~ Earl of Derby