Bad parenting

Mum and I went to Giant last week to pick up a few things. Soon after we walked inside, I saw a small little girl sitting in the trolley crying her lungs out. I saw her thrust her legs out, so I thought she was crying because her shoes fell off. Feeling sorry for the little girl, I decided to pick up her shoes and was going to wear it for her.

Before I got the chance to stand up properly from picking up the shoes, the little girl's mother came over and forcefully threw a whole bunch of stuff down into the trolley. She was clearly very mad. Then I saw the little girl pointing at the cookies, so I thought she's crying because her mum didn't want to get her the cookies. After seeing all these reaction from the little girl and the mum, I decided to put down the shoes and let the mum handle the situation.

After I stood up, I looked at the little girl again to make sure the mum was taking care of her. I admit that I might have been staring, and I think the little girl's mum was embarrassed by her crying toddler. Though what happened next totally shocked mum and I. The little girl's brother came over at that time, and the mother just slapped him in the face like really hard. There was no expression on the brother's face and he just kept on standing there. I think I was so shocked till my jaw dropped.

I just couldn't stop staring after that wondering what was wrong. Apparently mum told me the brother took away the little girl's toy or something, which was what started the tantrum. Seeing such horror unfolding in front of our eyes, mum and I decided it's best to just walk away and not be such busybodies.

I really cannot understand what made the little girl's mother so mad that she'd slapped the brother like that in public. I mean the poor kid was only like in his late primary school years or something, and judging from his behavior of not retaliating, he probably gets that quite often. I really don't understand how a mother can do such a thing. Mum said it was because we were there, and she lost face. But that is still not a good enough reason to slapped one's son in the face so forcefully.

I really hope I didn't bring that onto the poor boy for trying to help. Maybe I should just not be such a busybody next time *sigh* Some parents are just unbelievable. I really hope I don't end up becoming like that in the future.