Three Ways to Handle Your Child Throwing a Tantrum in Public

Picture this: A ubiquitous cashier’s counter at a grocery store. A mother and her young child (let’s go with five years of age), have pulled up with their shopping cart by the cashier’s counter. As the cashier begins ringing up the mother’s items, the child spots an assortment of candy bars on the shelf to his right, and he immediately picks one out. The mother is on to him, and she instructs him to “put it back”. He refuses, and she leans over and begins wrestling the bar out of his hand, she wins.

As she places the bar back on the shelf, while offering the child an explanation on why he shouldn’t take things without permission, the child erupts in a scream as he begins stomping his feet on the floor. The mother looks embarrassed and confused as her head lowers to the floor. Then, after about ten seconds of feet stomping and screaming, she reluctantly hands the child the candy bar, then she hands the cashier an identical candy bar to scan.

With modern day society becoming more informed about child abuse, most families have taken upon idealistic and impractical forms of child rearing. To the point that scenarios like the aforementioned routinely play out in stores around North America and stores around the world. It would seem that in an effort to better rear our children, a significant number of us have transitioned from one extreme to the other. Just because most of us, have resolved to not spank our children, doesn’t mean we can no longer discipline them.

So for those of us, who have been caught unawares by our child throwing a tantrum in public, I have compiled a list of three effective parenting techniques on how to deal with such a situation.

One:
Parenting is a twenty four hour, seven days a week job. Until your child is of age, it never ends. Clearly as the child matures, the necessity for supervision lessens. With that being written, it is important to understand that parenting isn’t suspended once you live the home, it is an ongoing process and you need not be embarrassed by your child’s antics. After all you are not the one throwing the tantrum, your child is, however what you do in response is a reflection of your parenting. If you find yourself in public with an unruly child who belongs to you, simply make certain that your child is safe and nothing out of the ordinary is happening to him or her.

Two:
After you have checked to make sure your child is safe, the next step is for you to do nothing. That’s right, nothing. So long as your child is not destroying property, just continue to make sure your child is safe and then carry one with your business at hand. If anyone tries to interfere by giving your child something you denied your child, (i.e., candy bar) kindly tell them that you appreciate their help but that this is a private matter.

Three:
Exercise empathy, it probably isn’t a good idea to take your child to the nearest restroom for spanking, or wait till you both “get home” for armageddon to commence. Understand that what your child is going through is an egotistical cognitive process we have all gone through as small children, in order to exert our power in a strange new world. Also, by not giving in to your child but still being caring, you are killing two birds with one stone. You are role modeling to your child on how to effectively and humanly resolve most conflicts, and you are also teaching your child that the world doesn’t evolve around him or her.