To the editor:

Mothers who allow their children to scream uncontrollably in the store should be banned from shopping with children. I was shopping for groceries recently then waiting in line (a total of 20 minutes). There was a child screaming its lungs out. The entire store could hear it. What mother in her right mind allows this? To me this is neglect. All that needed to be said to that child is, “You need to stop that nonsense RIGHT NOW. DO YOU HEAR ME?” with eye contact and firmness until the child calmed down. If not, the mother should have left.

I realize young children become restless in the store, but there are ways to teach them appropriate behavior while shopping. Mothers should understand their children enough to know when it is and when it is NOT a good time to shop with them. Obviously that child needed its mother’s attention but she just ignored it, which caused it to scream even louder. This is just plain nonsense. That child screamed all the way to the car and then some.

No one did anything, nor did a manager approach the woman to ask her if she needed help in calming her child, or just ask her to leave. I intend to complain to the store about this and ask why a manager did not approach that woman. When I left that store my head was reeling in ultimate tension. Unbelievable.

Kathleen Christian,
Lawrence