Before I begin this post, I feel I must ascend my "soap box." *Ahem.*
Holiday shopping is not fun for toddlers and children. It's long and boring, and they hate being confined to their strollers and shopping carts. This makes them prone to tantrums, which makes this holiday shopping extremely stressful for parents (and those within hearing distance of those tantrum-throwing children).
I used to be one of those people who would shake my head and say what a shame it was that parents don't discipline their children anymore. I guess having children of my own has changed my perspective a little.
(I'll take that piece of humble pie to go, thanks.)
A friend of mine has a four-year-old son who frequently throws tantrums. She deals constantly with strangers judging her and commenting on her lack of parenting (both "behind her back" and to her face) when her son throws a tantrum in public. What they don't know is that her son has autism. He appears to be a normal child, but he is easily upset, especially when strangers stare or sometimes try to comfort him. She's even ridiculed for bringing her son, who "should be old enough to behave himself by now," to the cry room at Mass. At Mass! I applaud her for courageously putting herself in the path of criticism for the sake of helping her precious son to know God.
I guess my point is that you never know what someone is going through. That struggling mother with the screaming four-year-old might be a bad parent...but she just might be a loving mother trying the best she can to take care of her family and her child with special needs. Be patient, kind, and courteous, and give people the benefit of the doubt because you never know what they are going through.
Thank you, that is all.
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