Why Can't Your Child Behave in Public?

There was a little boy in the restaurant we visited the other day; he couldn't have been more than three. He was screeching, banging his silverware and flicking the blinds, and was causing everyone in the place to gawk at him. His mother and father would ask him to stop, and he would ignore them, or he'd smile in their faces, mocking their authority and their apparently insignificant efforts. You've probably experienced the situation I'm talking about: the boy doesn't care who he's bothering and the parents seem oblivious to his actions.

To be quite honest, I would have moved my table if I could have. It was clear that many patrons including us were wishing the parents could do a better job; though his mother did decide to take him for a walk after what seemed to everyone to be the last minute.

Ah, but there was finally relief.

The peace and quiet lasted about fifteen minutes, until the kid's food got to the table; his two sisters had been so quiet and patient. Then Mom came back with the unruly boy in-tow, and when he saw the spread on the table, he screeched as loud as his lungs would let him. It was unnecessary, and the stares turned to audible whispers. Why aren't those parents doing anything to keep that kid in line; if he can't behave, they shouldn't take him out in public.

Food seemed to keep the kid quiet, but his appetite was voracious. He used his hands most of the time, treating the fork more as a musical instrument than an eating utensil, and he ate like he hadn't seen a meal before. His parents continued to act like nothing was going on and that things were normal. It was really quite distracting.

This kid didn't seem to have any control over himself whatsoever. When he finished inhaling his meal, his parents had to do all they could to keep the kid off his sister's plate. And when they tried to intervene, all he would do is climb on them, or give a head butt to his mother's stomach or bounce on the booth. There was no controlling this boy, and his parents' efforts to rein him in him were lackluster at best. You could tell that they had been through this with him before, and it was clear to the whole restaurant that the mom and dad didn't seem to care.