Screaming dad

[Karen]

LH would never beat a child or an animal. Scold a child? Yes, if necessary. Grasp a child by the shoulder and move him or her somewhere away from whatever he was doing wrong? Yes, if needed. But I have never seen him drag anyone or anything by the face, and remember, I have been his older sister his whole life. Just don't make assumptions, okay?

[Marigold2]

Perhaps he will explain his words to me then about needing the police if I ever stepped it with his life. Some saw it as a threat I didn't. I think the police would be arresting him.

LH would never beat a child or an animal. Scold a child? Yes, if necessary. Grasp a child by the shoulder and move him or her somewhere away from whatever he was doing wrong? Yes, if needed. But I have never seen him drag anyone or anything by the face, and remember, I have been his older sister his whole life. Just don't make assumptions, okay?

[Karen]

He meant if you, or anyone else, tried to interfere with his parenting. If he is grasping his son (more likely to misbehave at the moment than his daughter) by the shoulder and scolding him loudly, you should not assume the kids is beaten when no one is looking. You may assume that said child has been misbehaving repeatedly and after several warnings, as young children sometimes do, and has worn away every bit of patience LH had, and frankly, said child needs to recognize the consequences of his own misbehavior.

You, or anyone else, assuming abuse and stepping in at that point will not make anything better, and likely make an angry person angrier. Not the effect you would hope to have, I am sure.

[Marigold2]

Fair enough. And most of us have been there or seen a child in the store yell till our ears are almost bleeding and the parent turns a deaf ear because that is what is best.
But this was different. This was abuse. The chid was screaming in pain.
It was a judgement call. I think most caring parents would have stepped in and said something.
What I did find sad is that many people here remember very abusive childhoods and are still sufffering.
I like to say that I would be sane if it wasn't for my parents and kids. LOL
My dad beat me too. I made sure I DID NOT do that to my kids. They spent a lot of time in the corner thinking about what they did. Probably plotting revenage. LOL
I don't see or speak to my dad. But I am ok with that.
I hope all of you who had a less then a happy childhood peace and happiness. Today is for living. Tomorrow is full of promise.

[wombat2u2004]

Sorry Marigold, but I have to disagree with everything you are saying.
It isn't your place to get involved in family matters other than your own.
If you wish to do that, then the consequences of your actions can take two directions.......firstly, you will be target No.1. Secondly, the child will probably be punished more because you have angered the parent even more.
Think about that.
Sometimes it's best just to walk away.

[pomtzu]

Sorry Marigold, but I have to disagree with everything you are saying.
It isn't your place to get involved in family matters other than your own.
If you wish to do that, then the consequences of your actions can take two directions.......firstly, you will be target No.1. Secondly, the child will probably be punished more because you have angered the parent even more.
Think about that.
Sometimes it's best just to walk away.

I agree with this - somewhat anyway.
Yes - just walk away, but walk to a store employee and let them handle it from there. You are putting yourself in possible harm's way if you get directly involved.

[Lady's Human]

I have completely had it with the attitude that it's fine to interfere with someone's parenting because "I'm doing good".

You don't know. You don't know the kids, you don't know the parents, and you don't know the situation.

I'm tired of the school system calling me or sending notes home with the children that a child in classroom XYZ had pinkeye, strep, chickenpox, the sniffles, or anything else and telling me that if I see symptoms I need to get the child to a doctor. No. Really? You don't say. I never would have guessed that I needed to take a child to the doc with a 102 temp.

I'm tired of hearing absolute BS like "If you drink alcohol openly in the home you're putting your child at risk to be an alcoholic"

I have stepped into other people's parenting. When safety is involved, I will step in in a heartbeat. However, a dad or a kid having a miserable day in the store isn't a safety issue.

I certainly wouldn't (and haven't) post it on the internet to garner an ego stroke from sycophants.