Be the mom!

Another one of those "Hey lady, be a mom!" moments...

I was sitting at the food court at Costco, eating my slice of pizza and a family sat down at the table across from me.  The dad's attention was completely on his iPhone.  He appeared oblivious to the antics of his boys or his wife.  Two of the boys looked to be about 5 and 7.  The littlest was probably 1 1/2.  Well, the youngest was having fun tormenting his brothers.  Seated between them, he had easy access to kicking, hitting and poking them.   His older brothers were not happy and vocalized it quite audibly.  And then there was the mom...yelling repeatedly at the kids... "Knock it off!", "I'm going to count to 3!",  "How many times do I have to tell you to stop?",  "You're going to get in trouble!", "Stop teasing your brothers!", "You're not going to get dessert!".  Not once did she do anything.  She didn't separate the boys.  She didn't enlist the help of her husband.  She didn't physically restrain the toddler from hitting, etc.  Just a bunch of empty threats.  Sigh.

If you're going to have children, you need to take an active part in raising them!  You can't just sit by and watch them misbehave.  Idle threats don't count as discipline either!  Be proactive.  Be consistent.  Be firm but kind.  Be the mom!