Last week, we shared a story from The Mommy Club about a man on a bus who decided to teach a feisty toddler a lesson. Many of you had strong reactions to the incident. While some thought the man overreacted, others thought the mom talking on her cell phone was at fault.
- "I get really annoyed at parents who don't try to control their kids. The mom should really have paid attention and made sure her son knew this behavior was not okay. She didn't, and I think it would have been absolutely fine for someone to have spoken up. But the man's reaction is crazy." – starbucks
- "The title of this post is misleading. It says punish, but this man abused the kid! If I were the mom (frankly I'm more diligent than that to begin with and my kid knows better than to run around crazy in public) and someone told him to stop I'd be fine with it. I would apologize to them and pull my son on my lap. Someone kicking him and yelling at him is a totally different story! But even if someone did kick him, I wouldn't stand up threatening to kill someone." — amandachalynn
- "I think the man was out of line, but the mom is defiantly at fault, too. Like starbucks said, it would have been fine for someone to speak up. I also get very annoyed at people who do nothing to control their kids because it gives us all a bad name." — Carri
- "All of you millennium Moms crack me up. The Mom was totally at fault 100%. The elderly man was doing what elders do, teach the young consequences of their actions. Its just too bad the elderly man wasn't related to him, or else it would have been a different conversation. It does take a village...and if you don't like the villagers raising your child, get off the freakin' phone!" — mamasanh
- "Both at fault. Mom is the bigger problem. Americans are raising their children showing them that technology is a priority. I am appalled at how many parents with children, of any age for that matter, that pay more attention to a hand held gadget than their child. And this isn't just about parents of children that are misbehaving. I have seen numerous accounts of poorly behaved and perfectly behaved children with parent that would rather be having screen time than interacting with their children. Sad, but true." — madcitymom
