You know...that "look" most good parents have perfected...the one that when flashed at your child, they stop whatever they're doing and know they are about to get in trouble. My Dad had it and was good at it. He used his for keeping wandering teen boy hands away from me...and it worked. Damn, did it work good!
So anyway, I was in Kohl's, in line to make an exchange. There was this little boy...maybe 4, and he was roaming around the area. There was a rack of DVD's, Wii games and Nintendo DS games nearby. He was looking at them. I wasn't sure who he was with...no one was talking to him. There was an older man there too, but he didn't seem to be paying any attention to this boy. Then I saw the little boy stick a DS game inside his hooded sweatshirt.
Oh, I gave him the "look". And I kept on giving it. He put it back and I turned away. I looked back and he was putting a game in his shirt again. He did this about 4-5 times before leaving the rack. The whole time, I'm wondering where the heck his mother is and why no one is watching this potential thief. And he looked old enough to know what he was doing was wrong. Obviously he knew it cause my "look" prompted him to put it back.
He walked over to his mom, who was being helped at the customer service counter...completely oblivious. The boy started digging in his nose, wiping it on his shirt. Ewww gross....all kids do it, mine are not excluded...but I tell them to stop and get a tissue. This mom was paying zero attention to her kid. And when she was done, she turned and smiled at him and sweetly said "Come on, Peanut, let's go!"
After this all happened, I was left with the moral dilemma of what would I have done had he not put the game back. Should I have said soemthing to the mom, an employee??? I would have been mortified if someone had told me my kid was potentially stealing something, but glad to know. But also, I watch my kids and I would have caught them in the act myself.
Parenthood is hard...we all know that..and no, your eyes can't be on them every single second. But still......this kid could have gotten into a lot of trouble (not only the stealing...someone could have lured him away) and the mom didn't seem to have any care whatsoever what he was doing while she was taking care of whatever business she had with the Kohl's customer service counter.
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I see the most awful things in stores with parents and little kids. But this story tops it all!
ReplyDeleteI have an evil eye, too! Infact, i just gave it to someone in Sears. They were having a go out of business sale and as we were leaving the store, a kid decides to push a shopping cart backward through the exit door, blocking the stream of passerbys. Boy did I give him the evil eye! My husband was embarrassed!
I guess I have to learn to control mine :)
And I still don't know what that awful word was!
I've worked hard to achieve that "eye". *sigh* I work at it all the time when substitute teaching... call it the "teacher look". You know, not one word is necessary and Little Johnny steps back into line because he sees the teacher sees HIM. Well. No matter how hard I try, part of my mouth smiles... the kids will never fear me, I swear. LOL. But hey, at least they like me and we have a mutual respect thing going on so they don't give me trouble.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have no problem at all grabbing a little one about to go in the street or telling one not to pull something off a display in the grocery store so it doesn't fall, or telling a little one to sit down in the shopping cart so she doesn't split her head open. My Grandma used to stop moms of screaming kids and tell them they needed to paddle the little one's butt. LOL! Probably I won't ever get that pushy, but I do feel pretty comfy saying something to a kid if his/her mom isn't watching. I'd have given the stink eye to that little stickyfingers too! You go, girl!
LOL! Thanks guys!!!
ReplyDeleteAubrie, I tried to reply to you privately but I don't have your email anymore and I couldn't seem to find it. I will have to go check the Lyrical author page. :)
Oh, that's an interesting question. I'd be scared to tell the parent, in case they didn't take the news well and flipped on me -- I'd probably tell an employee instead.
ReplyDeleteI hate finding myself in positions like that but, as they say ... it takes a village to raise a child. That proverb has been around for centuries for a reason!! And, you did the right thing by giving that fledgling thief the EYE. Perhaps just your small interaction with him will have a positive effect ... even if his mother was completely oblivious. Not sure if I'd have the guts to say something to the mom about it. As you said, we all hope that any and all mothers out there would be appreciative of the heads up ... but ... you never know ...
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