Tis the season to yell at kids

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by FireFly

My sister once walked away from her daughter and started yelling "Whose kid is this?! Get your kid to shut up!" at which point her daughter promptly shut up and started behaving. That was the only time she ever pulled that stunt.

That's funny. I love it when parents figure out mind games like that.

I think I was overly grumpy when I started this thread from having to deal with it all weekend. I had 4 boys between the ages of 4 and 9 staying at my house that isn't kid-proofed so it was pretty stressful. They really do have the biggest hearts of any kids I met, but they are just ape-#### rowdy and destructive by their nature.

Also, I do realize that great kids have bad days sometimes and I would never leap to the conclusion that the parent is doing a bad job and sometimes parents just get worn right out. I know even just having them as guests, there were times that I just couldn't say or do anything any more.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

It's pretty funny how many people remember being brought in line by a mere hard stare from mom or dad. I doubt mom and dad saw it that way at the time (though they may be perfectly happy rolling with that story now). I'll bet most of us were bigger savages as kids than many kids these days.

I think it's tough to generalize. Circumstances matter, kids are all different, and the age makes a huge huge difference in what they can or should do.

[Schraderbrau]

I have kids. And I can say this, kids are idiots and half insane, but that's because they are kids. If a 5 year old is acting like a moron and shouldn't be doing something, tell the parent to stop the kid from being a tool.

Now If it's a 12 year old, then look the little SOB right in the eyes and tell them to shape up. There is a difference between a young child or kid under say 8 and a 9 and upper. Treat them accordingly.