Moms and Dads - Ain't Misbehavin

Today I witnessed something interesting.  Usually when a child is misbehaving, you will see the parents trying to address the situation in a manner that they hope will minimize the situation.  Sometimes the child gets embarassed and sometimes the parent gets embarassed.  Today I saw a parent out of control and the child embarassed.  A woman was coming to the park to pick up her daughters.  An older sibling was already there and they were waiting for their mother.  The mother came into the park yelling and screaming at a passing car.  They got into a yellling match on the highway and brought it to the park.  When the children saw their mother screaming, they became scared - even the older ones.  They raced over to their mom.  The mom apologized to all the other moms in the park and explained the situation.  Everybody was quite.  The kids were scared and admitted it out loud to each other.  You can tell they were also very embarassed. 

Sometimes unforseen circumstances present itself and we react in an undignified way.  Ok, it happens to all of us.  Unfortunately, sometimes the kids have to witness this.  I guess we have to learn to let somethings go so as not to embarass or scare our loved ones.  Mothers, Dads, next time a stranger acts like a jerk and the kids are near.....try to ignore it.  It can show the kids that it is not always wise to react to someone who is unreasonable or out of control.  The kids can see that there is another way to respond to an unkind or thoughtless act.  Being reactive can get us in a lot of trouble.