Monday, May 25, 2015

When we all scream

I was waiting for a bus in front of an ice cream parlor today.Might have miscalculated because it turned out to be a long wait. A family parked their SUV not far away. The mother and the older daughter got out, did something, came back. The younger daughter was freaking out because she wanted ice cream. Which was apparently not on the agenda. Anyway, she alternated between pleading and tantruming.

Now I understand about building character, not giving in, the marshmallow test, blah blah blah. But Jesus, make it easy on yourself. Drive around and park somewhere else and you have a better chance of changing the subject. Does parenthood damage your common sense or does it just make you a masochist?

2 comments:

susan said...

You're right it would have been easier to have parked the car out of sight of the ice cream parlour, but what surprises me is that the mother didn't give in. It must have been some sort of masochistic exercise she was indulging in this week.

Ben said...

I can sort of see why she didn't cave, since you have to teach your kids that they can't always get what they want but if they try sometimes they just might find they get what they need. It's just that the parents seemed to be making it harder for both their kids and themselves.