I thought I'd seen it all---

[Uncleromulus]

Heavy trays of hot food? Are you quoting something I posted because I have no idea where that came from.
Respectfully, throwing a tantrum (as I referenced in the example of what the person I was addressing deemed "unacceptable behavior by societal standards) is not DANGEROUS behavior. Crying is a natural emotion. Anger is a natural emotion. Expression of emotion is not dangerous in and of itself. It might annoy some people to see people freely expressing emotion, but it is not dangerous. And I agree with you that parenting style implies NOTHING about the child's attachment, personality and/or behavior. But the posts directed at what I was saying seemed to imply that gentle peaceful parenting elicited misbehavior ("running into servers carrying heavy trays of hot food?".) There is no correlation. You can have parents that tell their kids "no" and use positive reinforcement and use consequences and are seemingly "in control,"" what have you, and the kids can still stand on tables and spit at people (for a variety of reasons) and you can have a parent that never once applies a "consequence" or spanks or grounds and that child sits at tables and uses their napkin and says please and thank you and never bothers anyone. However, I think most families and kids are somewhere in the middle and it has nothing to do with the style of parenting that was used. Which is, again, why TO EACH THEIR OWN.

On another note, I think it is funny the number of people who have addressed my post and told me different discipline and parenting techniques just based on my suggestion that we are free to parent how we wish. And judging from the sheer number of amazing teachers, grandparents, and parents on here, I would expect NO ONE at Disney World should have anything to worry about (statistically speaking). I would think these poorly-behaved kids would be in the minority, really.

And they are a small minority.

Unfortunately (and I don't mean that literally) WDW is crammed with far more kids than almost anywhere else on earth--making the actual # of incidents higher than it would be almost anywhere else.

And I agree with the many others who believe the problem is aided and abetted by parents who seem to think that because it IS WDW, rules of behavior and courtesy don't apply.

And my parents technique was "spare the rod and spoil the child". That phrase adapted from its original meaning, but it meant what it said at least in my house

 

[Disneytam]

Our worst experience was at the old Alfredo's in Italy. We were seated in one of the areas along the wall that have shared bench seating on one side and chairs on the other side of the table. Shortly after we were seated a family was seated at the table next to us with a little boy (4 to 5 years old) seated closest to me. Within minutes the little boy got out some small toys and started playing with them on the seat between us. I didn't pay to much attention to him until he started running his animals up my leg! Finally I had to say something to his mother who was totally ignoring the whole situation. Her comment was "Well you are at Disney and it is for children". Ok! It got worse when my meal arrived and followed shortly by a plastic dinosaur being thrown on my table! The kicker was when the next one ended up in my plate. I glared at the mom who grabbed her son and put him on the other side of her with a brief commit of "boys will be boys". We asked for our check and left and I haven't been back since.

When I told my son about it he was shocked and said something to the affect of " if that had been me I would have been grounded for a year". Just because you are at Disney is no reason for children to be behaving badly.

 

[tsme]

Personally, I don't have a lot of tolerance for children behaving badly in public, even at Disney, it is annoying as heck. When we all go out to some place it costs us all the same amount of money and we would all like an enjoyable time. And no one wants their time disturbed by someone else's problem. I have two children. I have taken them to Disney many times, plus to Washington DC, New York, just to name a few places. I'm not going to say they have never misbehaved or had a melt down because they have. The difference is when they have behaved badly, I have removed them from the area & dealt with them privately. I would either bring them outside, or the bathroom, or just bring them a distance away from others. I do not spank my children either. I always found removing from the area made them stop being ugly. The reason why I removed them is because it is not fair to make other people who are trying to enjoy their time have to listen my children screaming & it's my job as their parent to make them understand what is expectable behavior & what isn't. Also, (no flames) I find it extremely selfish of a parent to willfully ignore their child's bad behavior. Note, I said willfully, I have sympathy for those trying. Parenting can be hard, exhausting, & there are no breaks or time offs. It's a 24/7 job.

 

[MammaMoe48]

Personally, I don't have a lot of tolerance for children behaving badly in public, even at Disney, it is annoying as heck. When we all go out to some place it costs us all the same amount of money and we would all like an enjoyable time. And no one wants their time disturbed by someone else's problem. I have two children. I have taken them to Disney many times, plus to Washington DC, New York, just to name a few places. I'm not going to say they have never misbehaved or had a melt down because they have. The difference is when they have behaved badly, I have removed them from the area & dealt with them privately. I would either bring them outside, or the bathroom, or just bring them a distance away from others. I do not spank my children either. I always found removing from the area made them stop being ugly. The reason why I removed them is because it is not fair to make other people who are trying to enjoy their time have to listen my children screaming & it's my job as their parent to make them understand what is expectable behavior & what isn't. Also, (no flames) I find it extremely selfish of a parent to willfully ignore their child's bad behavior. Note, I said willfully, I have sympathy for those trying. Parenting can be hard, exhausting, & there are no breaks or time offs. It's a 24/7 job.

This! So much, this!

 

[MammaMoe48]

He is fine His second sister was the same way, they just talk so very loud in bursts at times. He has to be reminded a few times what an inside voice is and he brings it down...then it goes back up when he gets happy. She finally got a bit quieter when she turned 5 so we are hoping he follows suit. I did check out the hearing because my first born was quiet in comparison (And she still is)

LOL! I've been told my whole life to quiet down. I tend to talk very loudly too - maybe it's because I was the youngest of 10 and needed to be heard.