When parents take their kids out in public it is always a bit of a challenge. It is almost inevitable that the kids will misbehave at some point, so the parents need to decide whether they should ignore the behavior or step in and discipline them.

Sadly, most parents these days seem to just ignore their children’s behavior, making the lives of everyone in the store miserable.

The sporting goods worker in this story, however, witnessed a couple of parents who really knew how to keep their kids in line, so he had to share the story. I have to admit, it is a good one, and it is nice to see that some parents still put in the work to raise well-adjusted children.

The one time a parent said what we were all thinking!

Hola! I work at a small mom and pop specialty running/walking/swimming/triathlon store.

This sounds like a great business, and it could be lots of fun too.

During the summer we outfit around 70 teams with their team suit for swimming so we see TONS of kids and families.

Often times parents will go with one kid while they try on the suit, and leave the rest of the kids to run around the store screaming.

Kids can be a handful, but parents need to at least attempt to keep them under control.

Now on this one glorious day last week the impossible happened. As usual, a mom came in with two kids. The oldest one went to try on a suit in the back of the store and her other demon spawn of a child ran around the store screaming, climbing on racks, grabbing items off shelves and such.

We’re pretty family friendly and get pretty use to going up to children and saying the usual ” Please don’t run or climb, we don’t want you to get hurt!” and this kid had been told that not only by every employee but also by mom.

Kids rarely listen if there are no real consequences.

But he continues to run! Next thing we heard is step step step then “AHHH!” And then he comes back to the dressing room where me and his mom are talking about his siblings suit.

He is crying and holding his cheek, and then had this conversation with mom:

Kid:”Mooooooommmmm”

It is always a little scary when your child gets hurt. At least until you figure out what happened.

Mom: ” oh no! What happened??”

Kid: (while sobbing) “I caught my check on that sock rack”

Mom is asking the important questions.

Mom: (with out missing a beat) ” Well were you running?”

Kid: “yeaahh”

Nominate this Mom for parent of the year.

Mom: “Well then I don’t feel bad for you. you got what you deserved. you’ll be fine”

Mom then turns to me and casually continues on talking about the older sibling suit and asks about goggles.

I’m sure they don’t see this often, but it would be so nice to experience a parent actually parenting.

I wanted to high five her SO bad. Its SO nice to see a parent let their kid learn a lesson.

Just like yesterday when I was trying to fit a 6 year old for goggles and he kept giving me trouble.

This could be uncomfortable for the child.

In order to see what kind of goggles work we have to lightly press them onto your face to see if they suction, even for just a second.

This boy kept leaning back every time I held up the goggles and would talk back to me when I asked if he liked them or not.

Some kids need a little discipline before they will behave.

So, mom promptly took him into the dressing room and then we hear swat swat swat and a little moan.

He then comes right out and apologizes to me and was a complete angel the rest of the time he was in the store! Parenting win!!

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Parenting is difficult, especially when you are out in public. When a child misbehaves it can be embarrassing, but ignoring the issue only makes it worse. The mothers in this story knew how to handle their kids and it clearly worked.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who was on break when she was physically dragged back to the register by a customer.

Check out what the people in the comments below have to say about this very satisfying story.

This person had a great mother.

I bet this young lady didn’t mistreat the cats again.

Parents need to step up and help teach their kids to behave well.

Here is someone who thinks the discipline might have long term negative consequences. I don’t see that either of these stories had parents who went too far.

This commenter thinks that spanking a child is the same as assault. They are likely not a parent.

There are many ways to parent a child well, but ignoring misbehavior is not one of them. The parents in this story did a great job of stepping in and using their misbehavior to teach the kids a lesson on how they should act in public.