There's something that I've been seeing, and hearing, a lot of lately that just really bothers me to the point of tears. First things first, I am not a parent. Heck, I'm not sure I'll ever be given the gift to call someone my child. But I have done enough child-rearing as a sister to know better than to talk to a child like they are a nuisance.

There have been several instances that have caused me to cock an eyebrow, but there are two that have boiled my blood more than any other. Both were at work.


There was a man pushing a cart with an infant car seat propped onto it and a three- to four-year-old girl in the actual cart. She was singing and playing just like any other toddler would. All of a sudden, her dad becomes agitated and grabs the girl by the collarbone and squeezes hard. He mutters, "Why do you think everybody's playing with you, huh? You better keep your damn mouth shut." I hear her whimpering, "Owwyyy, stop! Stoooppp! It hurts! Stooopppp!" She continues to cry while her dad goes back to looking at his phone. He says, "Shut up, you're going to wake up the baby." At this point, I'd had enough and didn't exactly care about my very important task of putting clothing hangers away, so I cleared my throat loudly and glared at him, eyebrow fully cocked. He glared back, but did he seriously think I was going to back down and mind my own business? I won the glaring contest and he went back to his phone. Another customer approached me to enter the fitting room, and I noticed that the little girl was sheepishly smiling at me. I smiled back and said "Hi! You're so pretty!" In response, she smiled and covered her face. The man said, "You want her? Take her. She doesn't behave." I simply glared at him again and went back to my work.

The other instance was while I was in another part of the store. A mother was browsing through the clothing racks while she gossiped with her friend and pushed her toddler son in the shopping cart. Again, just like any little toddler would do, he was harmlessly chattering nonstop. His mom would shout "__, would you shut up and let me shop in peace???? God!" and then go back to browsing. At one point before they left the store, the little boy asked "Mommy, I want it to snow. Is it going to snow tomorrow???" The mother looked at her friend, snorted, and rolled her eyes. "Yes, ___. It is definitely going to snow tomorrow," she replied with every ounce of sarcasm she had. His eyes widened, and he excitedly questioned, "REALLY MOMMY? IS IT REALLY GOING TO SNOW TOMORROW? REALLY, [mom's friend]???" The friend even said, "Don't say things like that to him! You're so bad!" To which the mother replied, "Pssh, he doesn't know the difference." "IS IT REALLY GOING TO--" "Yes, baby. All you have to do is go to sleep, and when you open your eyes, there's going to be snow aaaallll around you."

The first thing that happened obviously bothered me because he was physically harming this innocent child. I mean, my mom spanked me when I was a kid, but.. Really? In public? Right in front of me? Come on, man.

The second thing bothered me the most. If this "mother" is raising her son the way she talks to him, this kid is going to have some serious trust issues when he's older. He won't be able to trust women, let alone anyone, all because of the way his mother spoke to him. She may find it funny, but the long-term effects that she's instilling on him are far from funny. Why would any mother do that?

Like I said, I'm way too young to be feeling these kind of things. It's just that.. If I were to be blessed with a child, the love that I have for him/her would outweigh absolutely everything. Yes, I realize that kids can get to be a bit much. Hello, my youngest sister was born when I was 11. I know a thing or two about kids. But why would you resort to physical abuse and emotional abuse? I don't want my kids to be afraid of me. To be afraid to trust people. That's not something a parent does. I feel like I'm more of a parent than a lot of people ever will be, and I'm not sure I'll ever get to have kids.