Crying Kids in Restaurants

Sorry, but when I was "acting up", my mother would have taken me outside till I calmed down. She would have never, ever thought to disrespect the people around her by disrupting their dinner. If I were old enough, I would have been taken outside and told in no uncertain terms that I either calmed down or we were going home. That always worked; no physical discipline needed (I'm ok with physical discipline if it's needed). My sister uses this same method today, and it still works. If I were the crying baby that wouldn't stop, she would have gone out to the car, and my dad would have had the dinner boxed up and taken it home. After age 3 (my mother says that was when my sister and I learned to be well-behaved in public), none of these issues ever happened again, as I learned what was acceptable behavior in public. And my parents were always respectful of their fellow man/woman in this respect. Unfortunately, some parents these days just don't get it.

 

Very much related to this subject are the kids who scream. Some children evidently find that SUPER-high-pitched scream at a particular age and use it constantly during play...that is, when the parent doesn't do something about it.

I have a screamer living behind us, and BY GOD THE SCREAMS GO ON ALL DAY! (believe me, I wish I were exagerating!)
Its an absolute shreil that peirces even closed doors and curtains it is so bad.....some of you know what I'm talking about, yes?
The parents of the child could care less evidenly because they let it go on without the slightest consideration.

Then one day, my friend (a dad of a toddler himself) and I were out in my backyard having a couple of beers and talking when the screaming started on cue as usual. I guess my friend's "fatherly intuition" kicked in all-of-a-sudden, because without even thinking about it first, he yelled out toward the fence in his loudest possible voice:
"HEY!!! NO SCREAMING UNLESS YOU ARE BEING KIDNAPPED, BRUTALLY-BEATEN, OR ARE ON FIRE!!!!"

He then calmly sat down and continued on with our conversation as if nothing had happened.

One of the parents evidently shuffled the child into the house really quick out of sheer embarrassment because that's all we heard for the rest of the day.
I'm still busting-up laughing just thinking about the incident.

 

I agree with amcarrig's post. If you are unwilling to discipline your kids, don't make other people suffer from it. I can't stand that.