If you’re a stranger, is it ever OK to tell someone else’s kid what to do? Or is it better to talk with the parent? It’s a tough call.
I find myself siding with option 2, but then I know that some parents might get offended at the suggestion that you know what’s best for their kid. I guess it just depends on the situation.
I bring this up because my daughter and I were shopping the other day. She wasn’t in the seated part of the shopping cart like she really should have been. She was in the main basket area. I always tell her to sit down, and she does but then gets back up. We go through this the whole time we are in the store.
At the register, she stood up in the basket and helped me load the items onto the belt. She likes to be helpful, and I like that she’s busy doing that instead of grabbing at candy and other items on the way out.
I told her to sit down after she was done, and she did. But then she got up again right as I was paying. The clerk at the counter then told my daughter to sit down. She said it just matter-of-factly, not rude or too sweet.
Now, I know she had good intentions, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t taking care of business. Right? Well … maybe she was just being helpful. Admittedly, I did feel a little offended, but then I realized that was just my own insecurities. After all, if my daughter had fallen, that would have been a disaster. Gulp. I would really be a bad parent!
I was doing what was easy. I caved in to my daughter’s wants of being inside the basket. Even though I explain the dangers and tell her to sit down, she is 2, she isn’t going to rationalize it all. I need to be more firm and take more control. Yes, readers, I am not perfect. Read that again, because it’s hard for me to admit when I am wrong sometimes! LOL
I am curious to some of your thoughts on this though.
