What parents put up with.

hi amandakringle no indeed but my child would never have acted that way because he was a well behaved boy at age 12 who respected both his dad and I. He would have been apalled to see a brat like that treat his mom that way. It seems to me that that kid should have been taught good manners many years before. It is a little late now at that age. If my son had done that, he would have been take outside and talked to sharply .and not allowed to come into a restaurant again until he could behave himself. I do not believe in spanking besides at 12 that would be a bit ludicrous.

When children act out like that in public, the first thought is "What terrible parents! They should discipline that kid!" If we stop and think for a moment, this behavior is totally out of character under any circumstances. How can a 12 year old child behave in this manner and still be alive? The average parent will not stand for it. And still yet, with both parents present. In normal homes, there is usually one parent that is soft and one parent that is the strict disciplinarian. One of them is going to take that kid outside out of the sight of nosey onlookers and give that kid what for. If they return to the table, he will be a different kid - maybe sullen, but calm. The other thing that happens in public when the kid acts out like that, the parent that is sort catches hell because the other parent is going to throw accusations - "See what we have here! This is all your fault." That brings us to another possibility. This child must have special needs - maybe he is an Asperger child. When an Asperger child goes out of control over some simple thing, it is not a matter of "tearing their butt up" or yelling at them on the spot as you would with a normal child. This is hard for people who are not familiar with Asperger's to understand at times. Problems are handled, but not in the same way. When an Asperger child goes over the edge like that, if you take the bait all you do is escalate the behavior to a full blown uncontrollable tantrum. Nobody wins. Parents as well as the child require special counseling. Asperger children have to be taught social skills and coping skills. They have to be taught appropriate behavior. Parents have to be taught how to help an Asperger child. One thing that is troubling is the fact that the father gave in to the child's demand for desert. Asperger, or no, that was wrong. You never reward bad behavior. Nothing good comes from it. Since they were at the end of the meal, it seems to me they could easily have paid the bill and left. This act alone would have let the child know his behavior was unacceptable and would not be tolerated. They should have some system of rewards and punishment in place to encourage the child to behave rationally. It concerns me that the child is that old and still behaving that badly. It sounds like that family is not getting the help they need or maybe they just learned of the child's disability and don't know yet how to handle him. Let us hope that the child is not an ordinary out of control brat. God firbid! If that is the case, then both parents need their heads examined.

absolutely I would not and that is part of the kids problem. He is allowed to get away with acting like that and not only that....he ends up getting what he wants in the end even tho he was told "NO". These parents are without meaning to be horrible parents. They are not doing their job as parents which is to teach the child how to co-exist in the world in a peaceful way. He has not been taught any manners or respect whatsoever. At this point it would be difficult to turn things around for him as he has been on this path for 12 years. it is pretty sad really. the entire family needs help.

gosh! what a behavior! maybe they let it to happen, i mean parents let their child to act that way. so the kid used to it i think. its not new to them that kind of scenario. very bad.

No way! My daughter is only 3 years old and while I try to exercise patience and self-control with her, I am very firm about not hurting herself or other people. I practice gentle discipline, but as the word implies, the discipline is still there. What the scene you described shows is a complete lack thereof. However, I'd be the first to admit that we don't know what goes on in families. I'm not saying it's acceptable, but there may be a reason why the parents seem so passive and the boy so seemingly in need of anger management. So many weird circumstances (including medical or clinical stuff that may not be apparent to other people) are possible.

No way i would have put up with that. and i am finding it happening more and more now a days with you children either in resturants or amusments parks. it seems as tho parents today rather cave into there childs demands and fits when they dont get there way its almost as the parents today have no back bone and will to discipline there kids instead just give them what they want to keep them under control

The answer is NO, obviously. Please come and slap me in the face directly if in the future I do the same as that couple. I know that being parents is a difficult job, and most of the mistakes are not done on purpose, but I hope I will never forget how to teach my children to be polite. Same goes for my husband, that wouldn't deserve to be called so if he let our child treat me that way.

Those people need lessions in bringing up their child. The child probably doesn't appreciate what pelting a knife really means but that kind of behaviour does need correcting. If the father gave in that's probably the reason the boy is so badly off.

It never ceases to amaze me with what some parents do to their kids and what the parents allow their children to do to them. My daughter if she ever tried that, it'd be the first and last time. She'd get spanked. Period.

no parent should stand for that,even a child with behaviour problems shouldn't do that,my son has behaviour problems and acts up in public,but i always discipline him,he carries on,i discipline again etc etc,i'm determined that he WILL behave in and out of the house,no matter how long it takes

No way! Everykid nowadays have a sense of entitlement. They believe they should get everything they want, and that it's unfair if the parents deprive them of some of the things that they want. I have trouble understanding this considering how hard money was to come by when I was growing up. If these were my kids in your story, there would be serious punishment involved.