Children and Tantrums and Toys

A couple days ago I watched a five or six-year-old boy sitting on the floor of a grocery store crying and kicking his feet. It was all just a power play. He didn't want to be in the grocery story. Through is fake sounding crying he was saying, "I'm bored. Mommy, I'm bored. I want to go home." She ignored him, just left him sitting there and moved on to the next aisle. When he saw she was no longer around he stopped crying, sniffled, caught up with his mom and started all over again.

This morning I was reading about Walmart's list of top 20 toys for girls and boys. In preparation for the Christmas season, Walmart turned about 50 kids loose at its Dallas headquarters in a room filled with toys. The idea was to let the kids choose their favorites. That led to the list which you will see more of at Walmart and in its advertising.

As I read the list I thought of that boy and wondered if he would have been acting that way if he was sitting in one of the toy aisles at Walmart. One of my least favorite places on a weekend in any story:the toy section. Of course if I was ten or younger, it would be the only place I'd want to be (unless they were giving away free ice-cream or candy).

As I read the list I thought of that boy and wondered if he would have been acting that way if he was sitting in one of the toy aisles at Walmart. One of my least favorite places on a weekend in any store: the toy section. Of course if I was ten or younger, it would be the only place I'd want to be (unless they were giving away free ice-cream).

I think I liked the way the kid's mother ignored him, rather than playing into his attention demanding tantrum. Of course you might argue that it wasn't very responsible of her to just leave him there, but what other options did she have. She could have tried to discipline him there. That usually doesn't work because the kid often creates an even bigger scene, draws a crowd and gets even more attention. She could have taken him out and left him in the car. Would work fine if it wasn't 92 degrees out there. She could have left her shopping and gone home, which in my mind, would have been very irresponsible since her cart had more than twenty items in it. About the only other thing she could have done was wait for him to finish, continue ignoring him otherwise, then take him by the hand and move on.

Where does Walmart come into this? Looking at the list of toys I understand why he wanted to go home. If I had something like an Air Hogs Hover Assault Radio-Controlled Helicopter waiting for me at home, there's no way I'd want to be getting dragged around a grocery store... unless they were giving away ice-cream.