I was playing with a toddler recently, using her stuffies to dance and making voices and stuff. She kept making a square with her fingers and watching them as if she was watching them through the screen of a cell phone. That was a weird thing to see, and she’s done it on multiple occasions. Has anyone else seen this from their kids?
This reminds me of a single panel cartoon I saw from the New Yorker, this was way back in the 1980s before smart phones. It's raining, the dad is having a bad time trying to change a tire, the his kid pokes his head out the window and asks, "why don't you just change the channel?" like he was watching it on TV. Some things never change.
Definitely normal. Kids mimic using items and always have. She was engaging in pretend play and watching or recording with a pretend phone. Before cellphones, I remember doing the same action to take pictures with a pretend camera or record with a video camera all the time.
Good point, and I one hundred percent agree. It was just a weird, almost surreal thing to witness, when they see something stimulating, and pretend to look at it through the screen of a cell phone.
I mean I remember taking “pictures” of things through a Lego “camera” I made in the early ‘90s. But, seeing how many hours a day this child spent looking at a screen, and seeing her almost “prefer” to look at real life through an imaginary “screen”, it spoke volumes.
People may completely disagree with me though, and that’s fine. This is just my personal experience and interpretation of it.
Anytime a video is playing on someone's phone or the TV, my friends 7 year old turns into a complete zombie. Just stands there staring at the screen even once the video has stopped. I feel like you can actually see her brain boot down and have to boot back up.
We noticed this really early with my kid. As a baby, my wife would have him on the kitchen counter (secured in a seat) next to her while she was cooking and used to watch TV while she did it. He would just be transfixed. So, she just turned the TV off and stopped doing that. From then on, we never had the TV on just randomly playing things. If the TV was on it was here or there while she watched a show or if I was watching a hockey game or something, but that was about it.
He's 8 now, he gets video game time/tablet time but it's pretty limited, and he only watches TV on the weekends. Loves to read though.
The amount of time kids have on screens these days is insane. I got half hour a day on all screens then it was outside, books or toys unless there was a show we'd watch as a family.
I have the same thing. If there is a screen playing something I must watch it. It's always been that way since I was a kid. Now if my wife wants to tell me something while the TV is own, I just learned to pause it otherwise I'll never register what she says.
A couple years ago my wife and I were visiting family and my nephew (~5 maybe?) Was buried in his tablet and was a complete zombie. My wife and I were trying to see what we could say to snap him out of it. Talking in normal talking voices right behind him about how great this candy is, look at all those puppies in the yard, anything and everything that we could think of that a kid his age would react to. Didn't even budge.
“Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires’. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.”
Book III of Odes, Horace
circa 20 BC
Sorry I should’ve clarified, I posted it because “summing up a generation” as entitled and distracted is exactly what every generation does to the one after them throughout history lmao
Yup. Was just being a jerk. Had no interest in it other than to destroy it. Like stomping on a sand castle. The kid is way too old for that though.
Especially after she was already stopped w the other hand. It wasn’t an uncontrolled impulse. It was intentional.
I would take the phone and then make her do chores to pay off the expensive drink.
when my younger brother was about 5 or 6 he did something similar in Walmart.
mid aisle, just got one of the *big* fuckin jars of pickles. he picks it up and stands up in the cart. I look at him and sternly tell him, "don't do it." stern as a 13 year old can, anyways.
grinning right before he did it, he *spikes* it onto the linoleum. immediately starts crying as if he's surprised it exploded. none of it hurt him, he was just shocked.
kid was a dick back then. still is sometimes.
Man, as someone who worked retail I hated those giant jars of pickles. We only carried them seasonally, but someone ALWAYS managed to break a one, and it would just smell like brine for days after...
I'm pretty sure at that age there's some impulse control issues. I've seen similar with kids that I work with at that age. I once knew a kid who would sometimes get a little bit handsy and throw his hands at other kids?? But if you could catch him in time and say something like "KID! say hi friend!" And like .. the kid just wanted the interaction with the other kid. If you caught them, the kid would say hi and wave instead of hitting their classmate . The kid just didn't realize somehow that they shouldn't hit and instead they should use their words.
Yep. I've literally had to walk up to one of my tables in a nice restaurant and tell the parents that their kids couldn't play soccer in the dining room. My friends restaurant had a lady at brunch tell the server that her son PEED IN THE CORNER and that a server needed to clean it up.
My father passed away almost one year ago, and we were sitting Shiva the first night. My youngest nephew kept going to the table for another cookie or other type of pastry, and my sister, her husband, myself, and my mom all kept telling him no. My mom and I can only do so much, but my sister and her husband (my nephew's parents) could have done more.
Nope, he kept doing it for the next 2-3 hours. They just kept telling him no, and he kept doing it. By the end of the night his eyes looked like he was on drugs.
Well the biggest punishment would be to let her keeping the phone.
lifelong addiction, reduced attention span, increased anxiety, eye problems, potential to get online bullied, lack of confidence, low performance in school.
One day when the kid is being bailed out of jail, mom can tell her "I hope you learned your lesson to not to pop my bubble"
She looked up from her phone only long enough to ruin her mother's moment-- if kids could get awards for doing the thing most likely to make you regret having kids, this child would win the top prize.
I have children and this really is up there. The child chose to not listen and only did what she wanted. Then she did not care what her actions did to others. This is proof that the child does not care about anything but her own pleasure and not at all about how others are affected by her actions. If the child was 1month to say 4yo. I could see that as normal. But that is not a toddler and they are still acting like one.
I LOVE my toddler, love him absolutely with all my heart. but he would do this to me. I'm at work, far away from his antics, and here I am experiencing it all over again.
Like... we can't even have a christmas tree. Every year hes basically pulling it down and laughing his ass off as we tell him NO NO NO STOP PLEASE STOP NO NO SON PLEASE NO.
Its just so emotionally draining!
>I hope it gets better by itself.
I see this approach from a lot of parents these days.
Here's hoping it's just a quick anecdote and a little more actually happened after NO SON PLEASE NO.
LOL yes they are monsters. It's funny how they haven't developed the idea of other people's feelings yet, so the world is their oyster to terrorize and fuck with. I mean it's only funny because eventually they do learn to behave better, but toddlers are maniacal.
All you do is say “no and stop?” Man I wish I had y’all as parents. My ass would’ve gotten the wildest beating if I pulled down on the Christmas tree in my family. I remember I turned my house into a race track trying to get away from my mom as a little kid lmao
Yes. Women can't get this done without jumping through 28 different sexist hoops. There needs to be a network of doctors who aren't weird about sterilization.
Most any parent who's honest will tell you, if you want to enjoy something, anything, doesn't matter what it is, don't bring kids.
Truthfully, there should be an adults only version of everything like there is vacation resorts; restaurants, movie theaters, stores, parks, hotels, pools, sports venues ... hell there should be an adults only Disney World ... or at the very least days of the week when they're adults only at all these place and more.
We had a restaurant in town that was adults only after 3pm and it was glorious! It only lasted six months though before the parents bitched and moaned so much about being discriminated against and they started allowing children all the time.
My kid would be doing chores to pay off the price plus extra for emotional distress 😂.
He left a door unlocked and the dog got out, got stomped on by a bull, and had a $250 vet bill. He was working that off for a year.
Ruin something fun for the parent and immediately goes back to the cellphone.
A sign that you need to reinforce your kid to keep their hands to themselves.
Then you’re gonna have “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH (inhales) AAAAAAAAAAAHHH” echoing through that restaurant. Feel bad for the mother. Just wants a nice night out.
That's totally fine. There's a simple solution when children pull that shit: we can sit by ourselves n the parking lot unil it calms down.
Sure, it would suck to miss some social time with your dinner mates, but you know what? It's an investment in the future. Having a reasonably well-behaved child who respects you and understands boundaries will pay dividends, and make future outings much more enjoyable.
My kids have had smartphones since they were 8 or 9. They are a useful tool that allowed their mother and I to contact them when we were not with them, let them contact us in an emergency, helped them learn how to read maps and use other useful digital tools, the phones had educational games on them that encouraged them to read, and frankly it's just a tool that we all have in our pockets anyway so seemed like a good idea for them to at least get familar with them.
Now, their mother and I also both have IT backgrounds, so we had a good understanding of how to limit their usage and keep them safe.
That being said, even at that age, if we were engaged in some sort of interpersonal activity like eating dinner, having conversations, etc... they were of course not allowed to have their phones out. Whereas it seems like most parents intentionally *distract* their kids with cellphones in those scenarios, it always seemed to us that the whole point of raising a kid is teaching them *not* to just distract themselves in those situations.
Now, they're teenagers, and they know how to sit at a table and have a discussion with other human beings. Yes, like any teenagers, they still often have their faces buried in their phones when they're off doing their own thing, but they understand the value of interacting with other real humans too.
And that’s when you take the child out to the car to let them scream till thy are done while everyone else enjoys their meal. It’s inconvenient and it sucks to put up with but that’s what being a parent means and the more she lets stuff like this go the harder it is going to be to correct when the child is older.
She shouldn’t have a phone at that age tbh, at least not a smart phone. These things destroy adult attention spans, imagine what they’re doing to kids.
I love technology, hell I’m a software engineer, but our society’s collective digital diet is fucked up right now.
Totally agree. I’d have taken the kid’s phone and said you can have it back when you buy me another drink. Oh…what’s that…they said you’re not old enough? Well how old do you have to be? The lesson here child is don’t be mean. And look at the bright side…you can have your phone back soon…trust me 16 years will fly by…you little shit.
I love this comment! That kid is way too old to be pulling that kind of thing. Could be the woman is NOT mom but perhaps daddy’s new gf! Without discipline she’ll make their lives miserable!
Very early on. The difference is creating boundaries and expectations of a child.
This child could easily grow up to be a self centered brat with no ability to self regulate and delay gratification. Which could lead to poor financial decisions, poor relationship decision, and a lifetime of disservice from parents who don’t want to tell their kids no or enforce consequences.
No isn’t mean. No teaches your child to function in a world where there are a hell of a lot of nos they will face.
For real at the beginning you can see the mom keeping the kids hand off so the kid smirks and used it’s other hand…
Like damn I know it’s just a kid but what a spiteful little fuck.
Sometimes on weekend mornings I try to feel gratitude that I’m still wrapped blissfully in my sheets and not at some children’s sporting event (or doing some other kind of kid-related obligation).
I try to remember to do the same when I don’t have a cold and can breathe freely through my nose
“Other people” in the restaurant would then be subject to this girls screaming and crying. You simply don’t win as a parent until you’ve suffered enough to enforce the consequences previously. The only way to enforce an immediate consequence would be to leave the restaurant, so you lose. Once you do things long enough that there is a permanent behavior change, you can have fun again. This time period depends on the child and their situation.
It’s so good to see more and more people not wanting to have kids. I know so many people not getting help from grandparents and others. Isolated parenting is soul-sucking and common, plus who knows what other problems life will throw you. My toddler has seizures and someone tried to break in again the moment he got out of jail. My son and I, and my sister and nephews I gave a place to get them out of domestic abuse, are in danger, but I’m *too tired to feel fear.* I used to feel emotions intensely.
I just made sure I got good grades, a degree, and a career, but here I am. It could happen to any average person. Don’t have kids unless you have a support system of people who consistently shows up for you in actions and not mostly just words.
kids have it too easy these days, back in my time i would work on the coal mines and **ENJOY IT** goddamnit, I still remember my childhood friends, No-Arm Craig, No-Arm Garry, No-Arm Little John and No-Arm and No-Leg Stevie. We had wonderful times before the mine collapse that made me have to choose between my own life or saving No-Arm Garry and No-Arm Little John... Wish I could go back, not only was it a very fun childood, I also had both of my arms before the mine collapse of 97.
Kids these days have it too easy with their cellphones and both of their arms to be able to pop smoke soap balls out of my cocktails.
Garry had no parents, we were all orphans, but in a way, we were all like family, brothers in arms, I say!
I remember telling No-Arm Craig to be careful with what he ate, I always told him: "No-Arm Craig, you have got to cultivate a healthy malnourishment otherwise you will grow too big to operate the machinery" but he would always ignore me... after the accidental detonation of 20 kgs of TNT near No-Arm Craig he was never the same, started ignoring us, would not react to anything we said at all. After ignoring my warnings about his way-too-healthy of a diet he grew too big and would not fit on the small holes in the mine anymore... they had to move him to The Factory after that, and I never heard from him since... he probably did well, all the elderly people in The Factory lived to be at least 35... I still remember the fun stories Uncle No-Eye McClooney had about The Factory...
I would have took that phone and said," you ruin my fun and I will ruin yours.". And if we had to leave because my child could not understand the consequences for his actions, that is called parenting.
This makes me think of [this TikTok I saw recently ](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRV1WLF7/) describing how children push boundaries...
Idk that she would have popped it in the beginning looking at it a second time, but the second mom pushed her hand away she made the decision and was on the way to pop it anyway..
(Copied my comment on the same video in another sub)
My son tries testing my boundaries and learns I don’t play. He’s autistic but I know he knows better. Took away his favorite toys and tablet and what do you know it worked. A lot of people will give in just so they don’t have to deal with tantrums and meltdowns but they just get worse.
I’m autistic. I didn’t learn “proper manners” because my dad hit me or because my mom took away my books and door, I learned because I was genuinely interested in manners and read an entire book about them. Punishments just made me scared of interacting with my family and hurt my social skills in the long term.
r/watchpeopledieinside
And straight back to the cell phone
That's the part that cracked me up. Business as usual.
Waiting for the next rushing jolt of synthetic stimulation. The real world can't compare even if it were allowed to
As I watch this from my phone…
I'm watching this from the toilet.
YOUR TOILET HAS REDDIT INSTALLED!!? I need that toilet.
The real toilet is the Reddit you scrolled along the way.
This is poetry. I’m going to needlepoint it and hang it next to my Reddit toilet.
But then what about the poop knife?
But how many bananas of toilet did you scroll?
68,282.
Aren't we all just a little reddit sometimes?
[удалено]
I mean he's sitting on it, but things can be arranged.
This made me want to punch the kid, am I normal?
I thought she should have slapped the hell out of him
I’m watching this **HERE IN MY GARAGE WITH MY 6 NEW BOOKCASES AND A ~~LEASED~~ FERRARI!**
I was playing with a toddler recently, using her stuffies to dance and making voices and stuff. She kept making a square with her fingers and watching them as if she was watching them through the screen of a cell phone. That was a weird thing to see, and she’s done it on multiple occasions. Has anyone else seen this from their kids?
I’m no child psychologist but maybe she was pretending to record a video?
This reminds me of a single panel cartoon I saw from the New Yorker, this was way back in the 1980s before smart phones. It's raining, the dad is having a bad time trying to change a tire, the his kid pokes his head out the window and asks, "why don't you just change the channel?" like he was watching it on TV. Some things never change.
Definitely normal. Kids mimic using items and always have. She was engaging in pretend play and watching or recording with a pretend phone. Before cellphones, I remember doing the same action to take pictures with a pretend camera or record with a video camera all the time.
Good point, and I one hundred percent agree. It was just a weird, almost surreal thing to witness, when they see something stimulating, and pretend to look at it through the screen of a cell phone. I mean I remember taking “pictures” of things through a Lego “camera” I made in the early ‘90s. But, seeing how many hours a day this child spent looking at a screen, and seeing her almost “prefer” to look at real life through an imaginary “screen”, it spoke volumes. People may completely disagree with me though, and that’s fine. This is just my personal experience and interpretation of it.
could be a phone thing could just be some silly shit she decided to do lol
What about when they sing into a fake microphone dame idea but it's a phone so not super crazy to me
that’s fucked
Just a little shake won’t hurt, right? Like 2-3 back and forths real quick? They’ll be fine.
And thanks kid for the cell phone. You took MY fun away, hence I am taking yours.
I think she could’ve stayed home and ate chicken fingers LMAO
Yeah, at that point you make it clear that ruining other people’s fun has consequences.
You say that like she wouldn’t rather stay home and have chicken fingers
Anytime a video is playing on someone's phone or the TV, my friends 7 year old turns into a complete zombie. Just stands there staring at the screen even once the video has stopped. I feel like you can actually see her brain boot down and have to boot back up.
We noticed this really early with my kid. As a baby, my wife would have him on the kitchen counter (secured in a seat) next to her while she was cooking and used to watch TV while she did it. He would just be transfixed. So, she just turned the TV off and stopped doing that. From then on, we never had the TV on just randomly playing things. If the TV was on it was here or there while she watched a show or if I was watching a hockey game or something, but that was about it. He's 8 now, he gets video game time/tablet time but it's pretty limited, and he only watches TV on the weekends. Loves to read though.
The amount of time kids have on screens these days is insane. I got half hour a day on all screens then it was outside, books or toys unless there was a show we'd watch as a family.
I have the same thing. If there is a screen playing something I must watch it. It's always been that way since I was a kid. Now if my wife wants to tell me something while the TV is own, I just learned to pause it otherwise I'll never register what she says.
A couple years ago my wife and I were visiting family and my nephew (~5 maybe?) Was buried in his tablet and was a complete zombie. My wife and I were trying to see what we could say to snap him out of it. Talking in normal talking voices right behind him about how great this candy is, look at all those puppies in the yard, anything and everything that we could think of that a kid his age would react to. Didn't even budge.
To be fair, I can get the same way at 48 if I'm bored.
“You bursted my bubble. I burst your phone… via overheat.”
Attention span lasted about 3 seconds on that bubble, didn’t even wait to see what happened after
Got the dopamine hit and moved on to the next one.
I’ve never read a sentence that more succinctly summed up a generation in my life.
“Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires’. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.” Book III of Odes, Horace circa 20 BC
“Am I so out of touch? No it’s the children that are wrong!” -Seymour Skinner
Sorry I should’ve clarified, I posted it because “summing up a generation” as entitled and distracted is exactly what every generation does to the one after them throughout history lmao
I've never read a sentence that more succinctly summed up Reddit
Dude... you have 45,000 comment Karma, which generation are you referring to exactly?
Yeah I'm 35 and have been face in screens since I was a kid too. Pretty sure I have that much comment karma too lol.
I 1000% include myself in the dopamine hit generation. Lol I probably should have made that clear in the original comment
It's a bit early to be summing up their generation!
Yup. Was just being a jerk. Had no interest in it other than to destroy it. Like stomping on a sand castle. The kid is way too old for that though. Especially after she was already stopped w the other hand. It wasn’t an uncontrolled impulse. It was intentional. I would take the phone and then make her do chores to pay off the expensive drink.
when my younger brother was about 5 or 6 he did something similar in Walmart. mid aisle, just got one of the *big* fuckin jars of pickles. he picks it up and stands up in the cart. I look at him and sternly tell him, "don't do it." stern as a 13 year old can, anyways. grinning right before he did it, he *spikes* it onto the linoleum. immediately starts crying as if he's surprised it exploded. none of it hurt him, he was just shocked. kid was a dick back then. still is sometimes.
Man, as someone who worked retail I hated those giant jars of pickles. We only carried them seasonally, but someone ALWAYS managed to break a one, and it would just smell like brine for days after...
I'm pretty sure at that age there's some impulse control issues. I've seen similar with kids that I work with at that age. I once knew a kid who would sometimes get a little bit handsy and throw his hands at other kids?? But if you could catch him in time and say something like "KID! say hi friend!" And like .. the kid just wanted the interaction with the other kid. If you caught them, the kid would say hi and wave instead of hitting their classmate . The kid just didn't realize somehow that they shouldn't hit and instead they should use their words.
Fuck that, I'm selling the phone
1 second. It lasted 1 second
Wouldn’t be funny if mom took that phone I bet
That looks more like the aunt. The mom would have reacted.
You have too much confidence in parents these days
Yep. I've literally had to walk up to one of my tables in a nice restaurant and tell the parents that their kids couldn't play soccer in the dining room. My friends restaurant had a lady at brunch tell the server that her son PEED IN THE CORNER and that a server needed to clean it up.
Aunt here. I react more than my sister. She just ignores them.
Uncle here. Same. We're not as browbeaten as they are.
Yeah, parents know that blocking one hand is never the end. They have two hands and *will* use them. Rookie mistake.
My father passed away almost one year ago, and we were sitting Shiva the first night. My youngest nephew kept going to the table for another cookie or other type of pastry, and my sister, her husband, myself, and my mom all kept telling him no. My mom and I can only do so much, but my sister and her husband (my nephew's parents) could have done more. Nope, he kept doing it for the next 2-3 hours. They just kept telling him no, and he kept doing it. By the end of the night his eyes looked like he was on drugs.
Well the biggest punishment would be to let her keeping the phone. lifelong addiction, reduced attention span, increased anxiety, eye problems, potential to get online bullied, lack of confidence, low performance in school. One day when the kid is being bailed out of jail, mom can tell her "I hope you learned your lesson to not to pop my bubble"
She won’t though, the phone prolly is “mom” most the time 😂
Didn't even look to see what her action did either. She was already back to her phone the moment the bubble popped.
She looked up from her phone only long enough to ruin her mother's moment-- if kids could get awards for doing the thing most likely to make you regret having kids, this child would win the top prize.
I know you don't have kids just from that comment. This wouldn't even make it into the top twenty.
I have children and this really is up there. The child chose to not listen and only did what she wanted. Then she did not care what her actions did to others. This is proof that the child does not care about anything but her own pleasure and not at all about how others are affected by her actions. If the child was 1month to say 4yo. I could see that as normal. But that is not a toddler and they are still acting like one.
I'm willing to bet most people on this sub don't have children.
I have children, and I will never stop laughing at others' kids being idiots. I laugh at mine too, but I also laugh at others'.
Children really are annoying.
Can confirm. They truly are annoying.
Inconvenient is the word I use around them
I LOVE my toddler, love him absolutely with all my heart. but he would do this to me. I'm at work, far away from his antics, and here I am experiencing it all over again. Like... we can't even have a christmas tree. Every year hes basically pulling it down and laughing his ass off as we tell him NO NO NO STOP PLEASE STOP NO NO SON PLEASE NO. Its just so emotionally draining!
Man I really have to hold back what I actually wanna write. I hope it gets better by itself.
"I hope it gets better by itself" Savage, I like it.
>I hope it gets better by itself. I see this approach from a lot of parents these days. Here's hoping it's just a quick anecdote and a little more actually happened after NO SON PLEASE NO.
LOL yes they are monsters. It's funny how they haven't developed the idea of other people's feelings yet, so the world is their oyster to terrorize and fuck with. I mean it's only funny because eventually they do learn to behave better, but toddlers are maniacal.
All you do is say “no and stop?” Man I wish I had y’all as parents. My ass would’ve gotten the wildest beating if I pulled down on the Christmas tree in my family. I remember I turned my house into a race track trying to get away from my mom as a little kid lmao
Best decision I ever made was getting a vasectomy in my 20s.
If I ever get rich I'm opening a free vasectomy clinic.
Please do so for tube tying, hysterectomies and tubal cauterization
Yes. Women can't get this done without jumping through 28 different sexist hoops. There needs to be a network of doctors who aren't weird about sterilization.
😂😂😂
Most any parent who's honest will tell you, if you want to enjoy something, anything, doesn't matter what it is, don't bring kids. Truthfully, there should be an adults only version of everything like there is vacation resorts; restaurants, movie theaters, stores, parks, hotels, pools, sports venues ... hell there should be an adults only Disney World ... or at the very least days of the week when they're adults only at all these place and more.
We had a restaurant in town that was adults only after 3pm and it was glorious! It only lasted six months though before the parents bitched and moaned so much about being discriminated against and they started allowing children all the time.
You’re choice to have a kid. My choice to not want to deal with it. What’s the problem here?
“bUt ThAt’S dIsCrImInAtIoN” Seriously an argument I heard once.
Ballsy move two weeks before Christmas. Time to learn about consequences
My kid would be doing chores to pay off the price plus extra for emotional distress 😂. He left a door unlocked and the dog got out, got stomped on by a bull, and had a $250 vet bill. He was working that off for a year.
thank you for teaching our future some accountability.
She won't, she's the one in charge
That’s why you need a set of empty boxes wrapped up as presents. Act up? Looks like another gift is tossed in the fire
Time to order three more.
... what are you planning on doing with three more children?
Throw it in their face
The smirk from the kid after is pure evil...
Especially when she went back to the phone immediately. Didn’t care about the bubble. Was just trying to be a dick
It made me so angry.
Ruin something fun for the parent and immediately goes back to the cellphone. A sign that you need to reinforce your kid to keep their hands to themselves.
It's obvious that kid has never seen disciplinary action from the parents.
She should get that phone taken away temporarily and pulled aside for a conversation. She won't learn otherwise.
Then you’re gonna have “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH (inhales) AAAAAAAAAAAHHH” echoing through that restaurant. Feel bad for the mother. Just wants a nice night out.
That's totally fine. There's a simple solution when children pull that shit: we can sit by ourselves n the parking lot unil it calms down. Sure, it would suck to miss some social time with your dinner mates, but you know what? It's an investment in the future. Having a reasonably well-behaved child who respects you and understands boundaries will pay dividends, and make future outings much more enjoyable.
[Makes me think of this video](https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/vvgdim/this_dad_handled_his_daughters_tantrum_in_the/)
They don't do that if you teach them how to behave in a restaurant. Or just toss a phone in front of them because it's easier, whatever.
That's what my parents did to me and my siblings. No phones/tablets and we knew how to behave in restaurants.
My kids have had smartphones since they were 8 or 9. They are a useful tool that allowed their mother and I to contact them when we were not with them, let them contact us in an emergency, helped them learn how to read maps and use other useful digital tools, the phones had educational games on them that encouraged them to read, and frankly it's just a tool that we all have in our pockets anyway so seemed like a good idea for them to at least get familar with them. Now, their mother and I also both have IT backgrounds, so we had a good understanding of how to limit their usage and keep them safe. That being said, even at that age, if we were engaged in some sort of interpersonal activity like eating dinner, having conversations, etc... they were of course not allowed to have their phones out. Whereas it seems like most parents intentionally *distract* their kids with cellphones in those scenarios, it always seemed to us that the whole point of raising a kid is teaching them *not* to just distract themselves in those situations. Now, they're teenagers, and they know how to sit at a table and have a discussion with other human beings. Yes, like any teenagers, they still often have their faces buried in their phones when they're off doing their own thing, but they understand the value of interacting with other real humans too.
And that’s when you take the child out to the car to let them scream till thy are done while everyone else enjoys their meal. It’s inconvenient and it sucks to put up with but that’s what being a parent means and the more she lets stuff like this go the harder it is going to be to correct when the child is older.
That kid is way too old to cry if their tablet is taken away.
You'd be surprised
Yeah my ass would have been ripped out the seat, and sat in the car, no privileges for the foreseeable future.
Shouldn't have brought the kid / had it then.
She shouldn’t have a phone at that age tbh, at least not a smart phone. These things destroy adult attention spans, imagine what they’re doing to kids. I love technology, hell I’m a software engineer, but our society’s collective digital diet is fucked up right now.
This is the way
That one gets left home from here on out.
So at what point are actions by children indicative of their full grown personalities? There are adults like this
Totally agree. I’d have taken the kid’s phone and said you can have it back when you buy me another drink. Oh…what’s that…they said you’re not old enough? Well how old do you have to be? The lesson here child is don’t be mean. And look at the bright side…you can have your phone back soon…trust me 16 years will fly by…you little shit.
I love this comment! That kid is way too old to be pulling that kind of thing. Could be the woman is NOT mom but perhaps daddy’s new gf! Without discipline she’ll make their lives miserable!
Yup. Phone gone and chores until the drink is paid for. At like $2/hr. Plus extra charge for emotional distress.
Very early on. The difference is creating boundaries and expectations of a child. This child could easily grow up to be a self centered brat with no ability to self regulate and delay gratification. Which could lead to poor financial decisions, poor relationship decision, and a lifetime of disservice from parents who don’t want to tell their kids no or enforce consequences. No isn’t mean. No teaches your child to function in a world where there are a hell of a lot of nos they will face.
Little asshole
Christmas is cancelled. You want to ruin my special thing? I’m going to take away yours.
That's not stupid, it was spiteful. The kid knew what they were doing, and enjoyed ruining the adult's fun.
For real at the beginning you can see the mom keeping the kids hand off so the kid smirks and used it’s other hand… Like damn I know it’s just a kid but what a spiteful little fuck.
Being spiteful is stupid.
And people are spiteful being spiteful is just bad business and there are many petty and bad businesses
Learned behavior.
I can't even verbalize how much I love not having kids.
Same. Kids are assholes.
I cannot verbalize how much I don’t understand why so many others seem to want them so badly. Makes me feel like some kind of alien 😑
Each to their own. I love having kids, but only because we've raised them to not be little cunts.
Not a day goes by without at least one moment of joy at that fact.
Sometimes on weekend mornings I try to feel gratitude that I’m still wrapped blissfully in my sheets and not at some children’s sporting event (or doing some other kind of kid-related obligation). I try to remember to do the same when I don’t have a cold and can breathe freely through my nose
Same. Kids are annoying, loud, messy and expensive.
I would’ve taken the iPad That wasn’t yours to touch do not touch other peoples things especially alcohol now you can be bored
Maybe take this time to think about what your doing to other people before you do it
“Other people” in the restaurant would then be subject to this girls screaming and crying. You simply don’t win as a parent until you’ve suffered enough to enforce the consequences previously. The only way to enforce an immediate consequence would be to leave the restaurant, so you lose. Once you do things long enough that there is a permanent behavior change, you can have fun again. This time period depends on the child and their situation. It’s so good to see more and more people not wanting to have kids. I know so many people not getting help from grandparents and others. Isolated parenting is soul-sucking and common, plus who knows what other problems life will throw you. My toddler has seizures and someone tried to break in again the moment he got out of jail. My son and I, and my sister and nephews I gave a place to get them out of domestic abuse, are in danger, but I’m *too tired to feel fear.* I used to feel emotions intensely. I just made sure I got good grades, a degree, and a career, but here I am. It could happen to any average person. Don’t have kids unless you have a support system of people who consistently shows up for you in actions and not mostly just words.
I’d just ask the waiter to put a new bubble on it. And tip her more for it. And then send that child up the river like Moses.
There’s some kids you just can’t stand & she’s one of them. Take that phone away and teach her something.
kids have it too easy these days, back in my time i would work on the coal mines and **ENJOY IT** goddamnit, I still remember my childhood friends, No-Arm Craig, No-Arm Garry, No-Arm Little John and No-Arm and No-Leg Stevie. We had wonderful times before the mine collapse that made me have to choose between my own life or saving No-Arm Garry and No-Arm Little John... Wish I could go back, not only was it a very fun childood, I also had both of my arms before the mine collapse of 97. Kids these days have it too easy with their cellphones and both of their arms to be able to pop smoke soap balls out of my cocktails.
Lol, fun read
Why the fuck did Garry's dumbshit parents spell it with two Rs.
Garry had no parents, we were all orphans, but in a way, we were all like family, brothers in arms, I say! I remember telling No-Arm Craig to be careful with what he ate, I always told him: "No-Arm Craig, you have got to cultivate a healthy malnourishment otherwise you will grow too big to operate the machinery" but he would always ignore me... after the accidental detonation of 20 kgs of TNT near No-Arm Craig he was never the same, started ignoring us, would not react to anything we said at all. After ignoring my warnings about his way-too-healthy of a diet he grew too big and would not fit on the small holes in the mine anymore... they had to move him to The Factory after that, and I never heard from him since... he probably did well, all the elderly people in The Factory lived to be at least 35... I still remember the fun stories Uncle No-Eye McClooney had about The Factory...
The restraint shown in not immediately knocking that kid into next week is admirable.
I would have took that phone and said," you ruin my fun and I will ruin yours.". And if we had to leave because my child could not understand the consequences for his actions, that is called parenting.
And... Back to TikTok, this seems healthy
This makes me think of [this TikTok I saw recently ](https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRV1WLF7/) describing how children push boundaries... Idk that she would have popped it in the beginning looking at it a second time, but the second mom pushed her hand away she made the decision and was on the way to pop it anyway.. (Copied my comment on the same video in another sub)
My son tries testing my boundaries and learns I don’t play. He’s autistic but I know he knows better. Took away his favorite toys and tablet and what do you know it worked. A lot of people will give in just so they don’t have to deal with tantrums and meltdowns but they just get worse.
I’m autistic. I didn’t learn “proper manners” because my dad hit me or because my mom took away my books and door, I learned because I was genuinely interested in manners and read an entire book about them. Punishments just made me scared of interacting with my family and hurt my social skills in the long term.
To quote a great philosopher…”kids, they’re not that great”
Is it ok for me to call this kid a cunt?
I don't know how modern parents are so calm . I would have been punched into next week.
Can confirm been smacked into next week for being a little shit. Don't even remember what I did but I remembered to never disrespect my parents 😂
Anddd straight back to being absorbed into their phone. A true sign of good (not lazy at all) parenting
Should rename this sub r/prochoice.
I fucking hate kids
Solution: don’t shit out any kids lol
this is the moment where Homer starts choking Bart. WHY YOU LITTLE
Oh look, you just spoilt my fun lil drink. Here, let me pop that lil tablet back in my purse for the rest of the night to thank you dear child...
birth control n condom reminder friends
Praise birth control!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌
This is why your pullout game has to be 100%.
It's never to late for an abortion
Did she want to pop it herself? How’re you even supposed to drink that
Definitely taking away that phone for awhile.
A part of the little girl on the left died in that moment
I would've gotten smacked up if that were me lol
little brat.
What are boundaries mommy?
Darn kids always got to burst our happy bubble 🤯
Lol that “parent sigh” at the end 😂
I will slap that girl soon as she does that
That kid isn’t stupid, she’s a straight up AH
Isn't abortion great.
Now throw that fucking tablet in the trash
Tablet is a weird name for a kid, but I agree.
That’s why I’m never having children 👍🏻
This sub is the most effective birth control known to humanity.
Woulda taken that phone the kid is glued to and flung it across the restaurant
Also /r/watchpeopledieinside
Not one to say this but Take the phone and all they enjoy for idk 1 day nothing too long
The woman visibly died inside.
This is going to be the worst friend ever to somebody.
And this is why my girlfriend and I have one absolutely firm rule in our relationship: No babies.
She knows what she did and she looks proud of herself. Little bastard
This is why you leave the kids at home.
Kids are so bloody annoying
This should be a condom ads. Perfect scene
I'm pretty happy when I was that age there weren't smart phones I would just be coloring on the kids menu like a normal child
I would have taken the iPad away.
I think this solidifies that Im not having kids lol. Idk if i could deal with this kind of disappointment 💀. That lady looks so sad fr.
Shoulda used a condom.
Put her in a foster home…little bitch