We were behind a mother and child today at the supermarket. The little girl was holding on to a huge mylar balloon and using it for an exercise ball. She smashed it by throwing herself on top and sitting hard on it. The child was about four years old so not super heavy, but I was convinced she'd pop it. Art and I watched wide eyed as the girl did her best to do just that. Her mother was oblivious to it all as she did the self check-out.
Art whispered to me that the mom would probably have to pay for a popped balloon. They soon left and we moved to the vacated check-out machine.
A moment later we were surprised to see the child running back and giving the balloon back to one of the cashiers.
That balloon came from the entrance of the store. That means the child was holding and playing with it all that time before the mother had her return the balloon back to the store clerk. The clerk returned the large balloon to the display.
I hope whoever actually buys that balloon does not have a leak starting.
So here I sit pondering what that mother was teaching her child and I shake my head.
A moment later we were surprised to see the child running back and giving the balloon back to one of the cashiers.
That balloon came from the entrance of the store. That means the child was holding and playing with it all that time before the mother had her return the balloon back to the store clerk. The clerk returned the large balloon to the display.
I hope whoever actually buys that balloon does not have a leak starting.
So here I sit pondering what that mother was teaching her child and I shake my head.
Hmmmm, not good. But then if it was "borrowed" during the shopping trip, at least it was "returned"? Playing with the balloon might have been an alternative to a screaming kid. I tried not to take mine to the store at all until he was much older. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteShe can borrow it, I suppose... but not try to break it. We used to tell our children that when we had to go to the commissary (market) in Illinois, they could have a box of animal crackers to hold if they would behave themselves. After we had paid for it, they would be allowed to munch on it on the way home. Wow! I'd forgotten all about that. I wonder if our kids remember. I'll have to ask them.
DeleteI like your new header, Kay. I watch some people with their kids and shake my head, too. It seems this mother has tuned the child out completely. :-(
ReplyDeleteNot a good lesson to teach the child, that's for sure. But the good thing is at least the mother had the child return the balloon to where it belonged. Personally though, I think the mother should have just bought it since it was already played with and, like you said, may be damaged for the person who ends up buying it.
ReplyDeleteMy hubs worked in grocery retail his whole life, he saw plenty, he thinks people who allow their wee ones to do that have a challenging time saying no to other things the child growing up will want to do..I am Mary I follow your blog daily, I love the fact you and your husband travel a lot to places I can only dream about, it is fun to read your blog...I feel your blog tells it like it is in Asian countries, esp. Thailand, I have Thai friends and I listen to them about their country, hot hot and more hot..We live in the pacific northwest whereby rain is here most of the year and temperate readings, but sometimes it gets hot white hot with humidity and that is a pain in the you know what, but we don't mind since our grass is half moss most of the year and the warm season is short..Manners I think are a form of discipline! Most don't teach their children from birth any manners whatsoever...When I give a wedding gift I just expect to not be sent a thank you note anymore, when I do get one I am thrilled!!! I am over the moon knowing the young lady and young man were taught manners few do that anymore with their children...Instead I see that Mom's and Dad's bow to their kids, never in our home, we only have one child and I tell you she could not keep the presents for any occasion if she did not scribble when little and write when she could do that a thank you note and please and thank you were used all the time and she was our daughter we were not her bestie and best friend like school children have, none of that in our home, she turned out so wonderful and works and went to college and works..She was not spoiled at all, she is the jewel of our lives even though she lives in NYC and we see her about 10 times a year only...I cannot get it that people want to let their kids do whatever they want to do in a grocery or any store and act like a bestie as the term is used...It is just plain nuts in my book, ciao!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! Thank you so much for your input. My daughter, Tif tells me the same thing about thank you cards. She says she doesn't expect an acknowledgement from people of her generation anymore. I'm really proud of Tif though that she is instructing our granddaughter to have good manners and respect for others.
DeleteI shake my head too. The mother should really buy the balloon.
ReplyDeleteWas she on her cell phone? LOL
ReplyDeleteThat child is being done no favors. I wonder if she will go on Ritalin when she's in school; that's the other thing parents do. It's all too awful.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable how some parents do (or not do) these days when teaching their children... I see so many bad-behaved children in stores ---and the parents don't seem to have a clue as to what to do... GADS..
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
There's just too much stuff around, and a lot of it is junk, like mylar balloons for instance. It all ends up in the land fills. What will future generations think of our junk culture?
ReplyDeleteThus was it ever. I know a gal age50 this month, whom I knew a a cold. She one hid in a display as a child and to make a long story short when her mom finally found her she knocked all the cans over. Today the girl is an author and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Haiti. Dianne
ReplyDeleteterrible the things people do.
ReplyDeleteas my dad would say...this country is going to shit in a handbag! not sure what that really means but i always knew it was not a good thing.
ReplyDeleteThis made me very sad. Certainly, the child was not at fault. Kids do things like grab balloons that aren't theirs. What was the mother's excuse for not stopping the action?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you, Dick. It wasn't the child's fault. However, I'm sad to see what kind of values and respect that mother is imparting onto the youngster.
DeleteI know! A sad head-scratcher for sure!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
Mylars are fairly tough, if it was still floating high I think it should be pretty good. They don't break like a regular balloon, they just leak out and typically if there is a puncture it happens rather fast.
ReplyDeleteThe mom obviously had a lot on her mind and was probably grateful to have the daughter out of her hair and occupied for a few minutes. She should have paid for the balloon though--or for a babysitter while she did her shopping. In any case, there's trouble down the road--A child ignored and who thinks it is fine to destroy things.
ReplyDeleteYou've got my head shaking too. I have seen similar incidents where kids have played roughly with merchandise and left it.
ReplyDeleteDidn't the teacher in you want to just do some parent teaching and child behavoir modification right then and there? I have to restrain myself sometimes for that reason.
ReplyDeleteActually not really because I figured the mother was planning to buy the balloon for the child. I didn't know she was just borrowing it. But yes, sometimes... I do have to bite my tongue...hard.
DeleteThis would be one of those things where I'd be staring, too, wondering: What is going on? Sometimes I really do not get why people do certain things, completely oblivious to what they might do to others (in this case make somebody else pay for the things they might have damaged). Oh boy! I guess they just didn't see a problem at all since she gave it back!?
ReplyDeleteNone of us have any idea what problems or issues that mother is dealing with in her life. Illness, financial problems, job stress, domestic abuse, depression. That balloon may have given that mother and little girl a brief respite from all the travails of the day. The mother may not have had the funds with which to pay for the balloon, or the mother and child lived in a place where the balloon would not have been allowed. We just don't know what is going on in the lives of others.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh..... Thank you for the reminder. "Judge not lest ye be judged." The woman was not poor though from the amount of purchases she was making. Ahhh... There I go judging again. Tsk!
DeleteHaving spent our lives doing crowd control, and instilling manners and self-control in kids in our classrooms, I try not to go out in public with kids much! I know you know what I mean! I find, as a hospice volunteer, many of the people who treat me the worst are those with money and a sense of entitlement. Yes, judging... I love your header!
ReplyDelete