Again hitting on the Summer topic, we spend a great deal of time in the public eye. Parents have to deal with children in challenging situations from time to time.
Answer this question for the community:
How do you handle tantrums or meltdowns in public?
What I've never quite understood with parents, is why would your tactics change in public as they do in private? Honestly, other than people not minding their business -- and I've told strangers to get stuffed before -- why would your parenting style and principles change?
Now I can imagine some children, being both clever and monsters, wanting to leverage the public eye against their own parents...and I've seen it (yes, from my own kids, too)...but isn't that because WE, as parents, are NOT consistent with them?
...for some reason they believe they can embarrass us into submission to their will?
Oh, have I got stories of situations backfiring on my children, HAHAHA!
That's the key. It needs to backfire on the little darlings. One of the roughest experiences I've heard about was a friend who was caring for her mother who had advanced Alzheimer's. The mother was essentially a 2 year old. She loved the park. One day when it was time to go, Mom pitched a tantrum. Screaming, fighting, etc. And of course strangers got involved with all of the misunderstandings that you could imagine.
My friend was horrified. She knew that Mom would have just put her in the car if she'd done that as a child, so that's what she did. She was polite to the intervening strangers, but firm. In the end, it was ok, but Mom didn't get to go to the park as much after that.
What I've never quite understood with parents, is why would your tactics change in public as they do in private? Honestly, other than people not minding their business -- and I've told strangers to get stuffed before -- why would your parenting style and principles change?
Now I can imagine some children, being both clever and monsters, wanting to leverage the public eye against their own parents...and I've seen it (yes, from my own kids, too)...but isn't that because WE, as parents, are NOT consistent with them?
...for some reason they believe they can embarrass us into submission to their will?
Oh, have I got stories of situations backfiring on my children, HAHAHA!
That's the key. It needs to backfire on the little darlings. One of the roughest experiences I've heard about was a friend who was caring for her mother who had advanced Alzheimer's. The mother was essentially a 2 year old. She loved the park. One day when it was time to go, Mom pitched a tantrum. Screaming, fighting, etc. And of course strangers got involved with all of the misunderstandings that you could imagine.
My friend was horrified. She knew that Mom would have just put her in the car if she'd done that as a child, so that's what she did. She was polite to the intervening strangers, but firm. In the end, it was ok, but Mom didn't get to go to the park as much after that.
Love it.