So we normally hear the 10:30 A.M Sunday mass at a chapel within the comfort of a mall. It is a small place so we get there early so we can find good seats. This past Sunday we found ourselves seated between two families with young kids.
The three year old boy sitting at my right side starts pointing at the other smaller boy whose family was seated at the left side of D. 3 year old boy shouts "kid ... kid" gesturing at the other kid.
His mom speaking in English tells him go say hello to the kid. Her child was being really loud and perhaps to silence him she thought it was a good idea for him to go make friends. Now the other kid was smaller and he wasn't really in a sociable mood but was facing the 3 year old kid in a shy, I.don't.know.you.manner.but.sure.I.will.look.at.you and he steps forward as if to acknowledge the fact that 3 year old boy was 'trying to be friendly' albeit in an obnoxious way.
By the way, the whole incident happened before the start of the mass so D and I had no choice but to be captive audience to what I thought was just two small kids being playful and friendly.
Suddenly, the older kid then starts aggressively pulling on the collar of the shy smaller kid ... perhaps for him, he was being playful or I don't know what. His mother was telling him to be nice and don't pull the smaller kid. Yet he continues to be an annoying bully. In fairness, the smaller boy didn't cry, he just turned his back on the bully but was still withing touching distance of the older boy.
But what shocked me more was how his mother reacted to her son's unfriendly behavior. She told her son "oh look now he is mad at you, he is not facing you anymore".
Omg!
Why would you put the blame on the smaller kid when it was your bully of a son who was being really loud, aggressive and acted in a manner that deserves to be punished for his bad behavior?
If he was my son, I would reprimand him and tell him to be sorry for his actions. But thinking of it, if he was my son .. he would not act in this manner because he would be taught at an early stage to be polite and respectful of other human beings regardless of their age, size or race.
Over lunch, D and I had a long discussion about the proper way of raising a child and offered many 'ways' we would have dealt with such an inappropriate action displayed by the young boy. I, in particular have been much appalled by how rude and impolite kids are nowadays as I am a very observant person and I do notice such bad behavior in children. But I do believe it is mostly the parents' faults if a kid doesn't act properly in public. They do not know any better so they need to be guided accordingly by more mature and responsible adults.
This is just my observation and I know that I am the last person to give pieces of advice as I am not a parent but I think that common sense and proper decorum dictates that an individual should be polite and respectful at all times.
Enuff said!
