Abusive parents

[hobie16]

I see the same stuff here in Fruity Drink Land. The family has probably been at the beach all day or has taken a long tour boat ride. The kids are wiped out, probably a little sun burned, and just want to crash. The latest example was at a friend's luau.

We were standing in line pounding down some mai tais when I noticed a kid who was coming unglued. His mom was trying to reason with him while the father appeared to be counting to ten and not cooling off. I walked over and chatted up the kid asking what he had done so far. They had just returned from whale watching so we talked about whales for a while.

I asked him if he had ever seen a fire dancer before. When he said no, I told all about Chief Tavita and the cool stuff he'd do tonight.

The kid seemed to cheer up so I went back to my place in line. The mom mouthed a thank you.

I saw them later and the kid was having a great time.

Another time I was standing in line at Burbank Airport. The mother in front of me had her daughter in a stroller and probably the grandfather next to her. The little girl was getting antsy and mom was trying to keep her under control. She asked her daughter if she wanted to sing a Sesame Street song. The little girl said no and I blurted out, "How about The Elephant Elevator Operator?"

The little girl brightened up and the grandfather gave me the ARE YOU SOME KINDA PERVERT look.

I did a few lines and then asked her if she had ever heard the Batty Bat. She hadn't and before I could do anything another father in line started to sing. By the time the line started to move four of us fathers had joined in.

It was a nice way to finish off what had been a pretty crappy trip.

[WarriorPoets1]

Oh, I've got loads of stories...

My personal favorite: a kid was in front of me when I was at Greeter at WOD, so I get down on one knee and start talking. Next thing I know, I'm getting side headlocked by Dad. He told me he was just playing. I was so shocked I had no clue what to do and only thought of screaming for Security after he left with the kid.

Another time: helping parent at watches with their kids and the kid in the stroller starts to cry. Mom starts using the "I'm gonna smack you" tone and I suggest, politely, that maybe they might want to go outside for a moment. They nearly screamed for a manager before I backed down.

I did really love my job, really!

[hobie16]

Another time: helping parent at watches with their kids and the kid in the stroller starts to cry. Mom starts using the "I'm gonna smack you" tone and I suggest, politely, that maybe they might want to go outside for a moment.

Here's one I posted back in October. It's still a good one.

The only other SG moment of note was the mother yelling at her teenage daughter. “If I see you out of my eye sight again I’ll drag you back to the car by your hair.”

[Chucky]

I hope the Soarin CMs did not allow the child on in that situation. If a kid is freaking out we are not supposed to let them ride due to safety concerns.

I'm really hoping that I have won the I-don't-want-to-ride-on-Soaring battle with my sis. Her oldest daughter has been on it before, didn't like it. We are all going back to the world next month, and my sis started to tell her daughter that she was going on it, that she would be fine. I told my sister that my niece and I could run and get fast-passes for Test Track while the rest of the road Soarin. Sis didn't say anything bad, so hopefuly that plan will work. I can't see forcing someone who has already tried a ride back on it, when they didn't like it and were scared when they were on it.

Quite frankly, I'm not sad to be staying off Soarin either. Maybe it is because I don't wear my bifocals in the park, but that ride makes me dizzy!

I want to say too that I have lost it in the parks and yelled like a crazed person at my nieces and nephew. I regretted it about 5 mintues after I was done. So hopefully some of those parents you are seeing, you are seeing as they lost it, and they were fine shortly after.

[EeyoresButterfly]

One of the worst I have seen was a mother who left her eight year old girl alone in the bathroom and then told her to meet her at the carousel. The girl didn't hear her or didn't know where the carousel was, came out of the bathroom to find mom gone, and started freaking out. I walked her around and we found the mother who proceeded to berate her daughter saying, "I told you to meet us here!" Yeah, real smart in a crowded place your daughter has never been before.

[WarriorPoets1]

Here's one I posted back in October. It's still a good one.

The only other SG moment of note was the mother yelling at her teenage daughter. “If I see you out of my eye sight again I’ll drag you back to the car by your hair.”

Wasn't at Disney, but I actually DID see a seven year old boy being dragged out of a store by his mom.

Short crew cut hairstyle too.

Starting to feel like I've been in a war with all I've seen.

[joanna71985]

One thing I hate is when there is a lost kid, and the family starts SCREAMING at them. Case in point:
Last year I was working the Castle Show. It was in between shows, and a boy about 10 or so came up to me. He and his family were heading out of the park, when they got seperated. We waited in front of the castle for several minutes, and then decided to walk down Main Street in case they had made it that far. Sure enough, we made it about halfway down Main Street when he spotted his family. You would think they would be happy that they found him, right? WRONG! They started berating him for getting lost.

Come on people. These kids didn't try to get lost (for the most part, anyway), and are upset enough as it is. You aren't helping things by yelling at them.

[GuestJockey]

I think I may have told this one before, but it fits this thread too perfectly.

I got pulled from City Hall to work GC for the evening parade. As I'm standing at the crossing in front of Market House, I look up the street and see Alice holding the hand of a girl who couldn't have been more than 5. the girl is crying and Alice is hurrying in the City Hall direction, so I figured she was lost. I ran out to meet them and just as Alice was explaining to me (in character :) ) that her parents had gotten lost, the little girl saw her mom further up the street and took off running to her. Alice and I chased her up the street to make sure it was mom and not just the kid bolting, and we saw mom bend over like she was going to hug the kid and say "there you are, I was so worried."

Instead, she bends over and smacks the little girl across the face, and screams "Don't you ever do that again!". Alice and I stood in shocked silence and the entire section people waiting for the parade on the curb went silent. Before I could figure out what to say, mom was dragging the little one by the arm out of the park. I heard some guy boo her as they passed, and I turned to Alice who just said "Oh, dear!" and I thanked her for trying to help and we both went back to our posts.

[Terrytunes]

Several months ago I was chatting with a security guard backstage on my way to the bank. The day before had been a very hot day, as was that day, and he said, "I hope today is a better day than yesterday." I asked him what happened yesterday. He said at Toontown there was a mother that punched her teenaged son in the mouth because he was mouthing off. Security and Anaheim Police were called out, and I guess he was one of the Security involved. I don't remember if the mother was taken into custody, or charges were pressed, but that it was a big "to-do".

Now, I have a teenager, and I know the feeling of when they mouth off at you, when they say some mean, stupid remark, but I am a mature adult, and don't act on every feeling and button my teenager pushes. There are other ways to torture your teenagers, like embarrassing them!!! That is way more fun!

TT

[SWTexasBelle]

I use "Keep on the Sunnyside". When my 15 year old wants to get out of line, I threaten to start belting it out. Works like a charm.