The other day I went to the movies and found a great seat. In the row below me there was a family. There was mom and dad, grandma, a son I am estimating to be 7 and a little girl probably all of 2 and a half years old. I was really early so the lights were up and there weren't too many people in the theater. I couldn't help but notice the family and how they interacted. The boy was quiet as a church mouse. The little girl was like most kids that age, chattering away, not to loud, not wanting to sit for too long but was certainly better than my son would have been. First I was wondering why you would bring a 2 year old to a theater in the first place much less to see the movie that was playing, but to each their own I guess.
Then I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The daughter, just a 2 year old being a 2 year old, was chatting away and the parents sat there. She wasn't being distracting by any stretch and the movie wasn't playing anyway. Grandma got up and said to her "Do you want to go to the bathroom and get a spanking?" The little girl cringed back in her seat saying "owey, owey owey" Grandma sat back down and the little girl was talking quietly, I couldn't even hear her and grandma did the same thing with the same response from the little girl. Mom spoke up to the little girl and asked her if she wanted to go to the bathroom with grandma and get a spanking. The little girl responded with a no. This back and forth went on for a couple minutes and I couldn't see a point to it. The little girl was terrified of Grandma and she wasn't doing anything wrong.
Then she asked to go to the bathroom because she had to go. The "adults" seemed disgusted with the fact that now she needed to go. When they came back I was floored and it took everything I had to keep from coming out of my seat. The little girl came back and climbed into her seat. As she was getting adjusted dad saw fit to smack her on the back of the head FOR NO REASON!!! I was completely disgusted with the whole scene. There was absolutely no reason for anything that went on.
If that is the way they treat her in public I really have to wonder what her life is at home. That is not parenting that is bullying. There are a couple things wrong. Number one the parents should be the ones disciplining the child. Second hitting the child in the back of the head for no reason is wrong. Third a child should not be terrified of their grandparents.
I'm all for disciplining kids. I think the bleeding hearts have caused a lot of the problems we have with kids today. BUT... what I saw was completely wrong. I'm sorry but what grandparent would want their grandkids to be terrified of them? What parent would allow that to happen in the first place? Why in the world would a parent let a grandparent be the source of discipline?
Now I sit here and wonder which is more disheartening - the way the parents treated the little girl or me not speaking up or making a phone call.
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