I accidentally created some helicopter parents.
I wish I had remembered this earlier in the week.

I have two boys- let's call them Thing 1 and Thing 2 for the moment, as that was their behavior when they were little- and they were a challenge to take out shopping with their mother, as they'd get bored while she wandered around the store like a cow following the grass under its mouth and would entertain themselves in ways that called for me to intervene before the police did.

One day we went to a kids' clothing store that had a slide built into the wall, with a large platform at the top boxed in with plexiglass on the front so parents could watch their kids pretending to be on TV before sliding down and running back up again. When we arrived the Things were the only ones there, and were having a great tine whooping as they ran up and slid down. I stayed with my daughter in her stroller as Nurse Ratched drifted around aimlessly, handling every item on the sale racks.

Before long other kids entered the store, and I heard even more manic sounds coming from the slide area. I looked up to see my sons basically terrorizing the other kids and blocking the slide.

I walked over to the slide and glared up at them with The Whammy and, in my best Voice of Doom growled, "Thin 1 and Thing 2, get down here NOW." I then walked back to the stroller where my daughter snoozed in peace.

When I turned around I saw that not only had the boys emerged, but every single other child in there had scrambled out of there and was hiding behind their parents, who were looking at me in bewilderment as their children trembled and peered at me from between knees.

Sheesh. I guess I overdid the Whammy...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 17 Sep 2009, 13:51, Reply)