Three cheers

As I was leaving a store today, there was a commotion in the foyer area. I looked to see a young mother, maybe 35, with her hands holding a large whining, complaining boy child in his chair by his shirt. She was disciplining this child for all the world to see.

The reason she was holding onto his shirt is that he was struggling to get away, and he wanted to run around and was out of control. He was doing all he could to get out of her grip. She was tall, but she was very thin. He was about 13, but he was very big. She had a good hold on his shirt.

I looked at her face, and I couldn't believe it. Her face was as calm as the ocean on a balmy night. She was saying, "I told you to stop fooling around, and you would not listen to me." He whined, "Let me go..." She continued, "I spoke to you and told you to stop fooling around and leave your brother alone and you chose to not listen to me. Did you listen to me?" He whined some more, and struggled to get out of the shirt. He could not.

I couldn't believe how big this child was. If he had chosen to take a swing at his mother, he would have knocked her through the wall. But he did not.

She prevailed. And he finally stopped.

People were staring. They were walking by, no one commented, but people were staring at her. She never looked away from her child. She had a purpose in mind. And that was to calm her child. I say, bravo stranger. Bravo.

Kudos to her. She was in public and she handled it.