Yesterday my husband, youngest son, and I headed to the Super Walmart to grab some groceries for one of our church outreach programs. My sweet little 2 year old had a complete meltdown once we got into the store and we tried everything to get him to calm down. All of our efforts were rewarded by screaming that progressively rose in pitch until we were all nearly deaf, as was anyone who entered our vicinity. The shopping had to be done *right then* (yes, I procrastinated) so leaving and trying later wasn’t an option this time. Plus I’m getting worried about the whole “I throw a fit and we get to leave” message he seems to be getting lately. We tried to ignore the tantrum for what it was…a 2 year old trying to express himself in one of the only ways he knows how. We told him we’d listen when he was ready to tell us what he wanted and pressed on. We got lots of sympathetic glances and one very kind little old lady touched my arm as I walked by and told me he’d grow out of it soon enough. Any negative comments were drowned out by the screaming banshee in the cart and for that I’m eternally grateful.
And then some Walmart employee who looked more than a little insane came up and started interrogating us, as if we had done something to cause him to act like this. Yes, it’s called having a 2 year old. All my fault. If I had either a) not had him or b) refused to let him grow up we might have prevented this. Seriously, I understand wanting to make sure the kid is safe and not being abused or something, but once you saw us in the aisle and realized it was nothing we were doing, walk away. And once we explained that the problem was simply that he’s 2 years old and that it was normal when he was tired or overwhelmed or simply didn’t want to do something, (I am amazed at the number of people who don’t seem to know this…really?) she thought it would be a good idea to get in his face and try to talk to him.
Not.A.Good.Idea.
The shrieking that had died down to mere yelling once again escalated to a deafening pitch and we were again apologizing to everyone within a 3 aisle radius for the horrible noise emanating from our child. Thanks, lady. In the end I managed to save the day with a snack pack of Goldfish, but it was really awful for a while there. And crazy Walmart employee lady did not help the situation. At all. I appreciate the fact that she was concerned for a child (really, I do!) but take a cue from the frazzled parents…leave him to calm down on his own and everything will get better a LOT faster. Or just hand him a package of Goldfish. You know, whatever works!
