Strangers always have something to say to parents. Especially when it comes to disciplining their kids. Even if they don’t express themselves directly, moms and dads can feel the glares and hear the whispering as folks mutter insults under their breath. I think it goes without saying these ‘critics’ can be beyond frustrating. But what if they have a point?

Recently, Redditor u/BingandBong123 made a post on the “Am I the A**hole” subreddit about the time she and her family went to a restaurant only to endure a particularly obnoxious kid ruining their time. However, when the little fella inevitably went too far and OP tried to ingrain some sense into him, the boy’s mother wasn’t happy about it.

Continue scrolling to read how it all went down, and let us know in the comments if you think u/BingandBong123 was the jerk in the situation.

Image credits: AleksandarNakic (not the actual photo)

This particular case aside, former Editor-in-Chief turned parenting blogger Talya Stone thinks that since pretty much everyone has an opinion on how a child should be raised, we just love to judge parents. “I always like to remind people that we really have no idea what is going on in that said person or family’s life at that moment. We don’t know people’s stories, so we shouldn’t really be making any presumptions or judgments on their parenting,” the woman behind the blogs Motherhood: The Real Deal and 40 Now What told Bored Panda.

Maybe they’ve had a really bad day and got laid off at work or they’re suffering from a fight with their partner; we just can’t know why a parent appears to be distracted.

“There are so many permutations and we have to remind ourselves that unless we want our own lives to be meddled in or judged harshly then we should refrain from doing the same,” Stone pointed out. “At the end of the day, how someone chooses to raise their children is really none of their business, unless that is it truly starts impacting us, and even then, we still have to be mindful of how we approach the situation.”

But parents shouldn’t take out empathy as a free pass too. “I do find it blood-boiling how some can either: a) not notice what their children are getting up to; or b) seem to turn a blind eye to it,” Talya Stone said. “The clue here is in the word parenting. We are supposed to parent them! Both at home and in public.”

Moms and dads should be taking a proactive approach to prevent behavior problems whenever possible. That means planning ahead and identifying strategies that can reduce the likelihood that their child will misbehave. According to Stone, this includes “ensuring they behave in an appropriate way for that setting, not touching other people’s things without permission, ensuring they are using basic banners and using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when out and about, apologizing as and when necessary, using appropriate and kind language, handling their emotions appropriately in public, clearing up after themselves and so on.”

That way, strangers probably wouldn’t feel the need to get involved, either — they’d see the caregivers getting involved.

“Ultimately, the children should be with the parents and not running around on the loose without mom or dad, or at least within range so the parent can keep an eye on them and their behavior,” Stone said.

If the child, however, isn’t sure what behavior is and isn’t appropriate, they should be able (and willing) to check with their parents.

But of course, no child can carry themselves with impeccable manners all the time. “I think it’s easy to subscribe to the notion that kids will be kids, but instead, it may help parents to think more along the lines of kids being adults in training,” Stone said on managing expectations.

“If as parents you think along the lines of the latter, this provides a perfect guideline for where to draw the line. Sure, they are kids and should be given the freedom to be playful, have fun and explore, but also by thinking about what their behavior teaches them in terms of their future selves, well, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want your child to be an adult climbing under tables, licking the floor and stealing things from strangers in public, would you?”

Luckily, we also managed to get in touch with u/BingandBong123 and she agreed to tell us more about what led to the confrontation. “The mother was occasionally looking up to watch her child but didn’t react at all to him running around and shouting; the staff tried to politely shush him/ask him to stop running a couple of times but he would stop just for 30 seconds and then start back up again,” the Redditor told Bored Panda.

The woman doesn’t think the little boy cared very much about what she was telling him. “He clearly knew he was doing something naughty as he looked embarrassed/ashamed when I scolded him, but knew his mom would come and bail him out,” she explained.

Let’s hope the little one will get more opportunities to grow and mature.

Other users (parents included) were really disturbed by the mom’s indifference to her child’s behavior

Games

View all games

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!

Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda!