Years ago, I must've been like 19 or 20, there was this kid in a stroller in a Walmart or Target or something. Anyway, he couldn't have been younger than 7 or 8, I mean he was waaaay too old to be babied like that. Anyway, he was throwing a tantrum about something or other, knocking **** off of shelves as he wheeled by, kicking his mom in the legs, throwing things and just being a general bastard. Well, his mom walked off to get something from an aisle and just left him sitting there screaming. I just casually walked up to him and ripped a huge stinker right in his face (happened to be exactly butt level) and he just started crying, and I walked quickly away turning down an aisle just in time to hear him tell his mother some bad man pooped in his face. It's weird your story triggered this memory, but I'm glad it did
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That is TOO funny.
As a parent, although with some trepidation, I applaud your action. One of the hardest parts about disciplining children is impressing upon them how ugly their behavior is to the world at large.
All the scolding in the world is just fuel for the continued defiance and rebellion, and keeps the dispute between parent and child. You demonstrated how offensive his behavior was to complete strangers in a public place. If he was perceptive, he might have learned a valuable lesson.
BTW, my kids are very kindly and well-behaved teenagers now, and rarely behaved as you described, even as toddlers.