General Etiquette > Family and Children

I'm speechless

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Ko-Ko:
Today one of the weirdest things just happened to me. I went shopping with my mother, and she had to go to the pharmacy. I didn't want to go in, so I sat on a bench outside. This mother came along with her son, who looked about three. The mom took out her cellphone and started yakking on it. The boy toddled over to me, and before I knew it, took my shopping bag! The bag contained a soccer ball I bought for my cousin. The kid ran over to his mother, took out the ball, and began playing with it. The mother didn't notice a thing. I went over to them, and said to the boy, "No. That is mine. You need to find something else to play with." Then I took it back from him. The boy immediately looked shocked. The mother finally came back to Earth and got off the phone. I told her what happened hoping she would chastise her son, but that was not to be. She smiled at her son, and told him not to be upset, that she was sure the nice girl would let him play with the soccer ball. She then sweetly *told* me to take the ball out of its box so her son could play with it. I politely informed her that her son had stolen the toy from me, and that I would not allow him to play with it.

She shouted, "But I already promised him!" I responded that I did not care what she promised, it did not belong to her or her son. She said, "But he won't understand! You are older, you can buy another one!" So now I'm supposed to give it to him? I don't think so! So I told the mother I would make him understand. I went over to the boy and said, "This ball is for my cousin, a little boy like you. If you take this, he won't get a present for his birthday and he'll be sad. You're not allowed to take other people's toys." To my surprise, he looked straight at me and said, "Sorry."

I hoped that this would get his mother to back off, but instead, she said, "No it's okay, you can play with it," and tried to take the soccer ball from me! I managed to pull it away from her, and I ran into the store. By the time I came out with my mother, she and the boy had disappeared. It boggles my mind that she thought this was okay to do, even though her son had accepted it. I probably should have threatened to call the police, but I didn't think of it at the time. I just hope something I said sticks in her son's head. Thanks for reading.

Ko-Ko

Lisbeth:
A thief is born.

MineralDiva:
Unbe-freaking-lieveable!  At least the kid understood, once you told him.  And you really did that VERY nicely, by the way. 

His mother's reaction was beyond the beyond!  "But I already promised him!"  Well lady, you had no business promising him something that already belongs to someone else!

But for the grace of God, the fires of E-Hell and the presence of her child, I'd have been tempted to have speed-slapped her back from Oz!

Irish Clovers:
OH...MY....GAWD.   ???

People are getting more whacked out by the day. 

Twik:
Actually, a thief is already on the premises - the mom. The child apparently has some sense of property already, he just needed to have it explained to him.

Ko-ko, you handled it with a lot more grace than I could have come up with. I'd still have my chin scraping the ground.

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