Friendly Workers at Trader Joe's Dance and Sing To Stop Toddler During Tantrum
Nothing can cast a pall over your day like your child deciding to act up in public. Many times, parents shopping with kids go nearly unnoticed as they browse the aisles — but as soon as you hear an infuriated squall emanating from some corner of a store, you KNOW. It’s like a beacon of dooom.
There’s nothing quite as embarrassing as trying to quiet your wailing child in front of strangers who can — and do — make snap judgments about you, your child and your entire life based on such a brief encounter.
When dealing with such a situation, you have several options, none of them without potential repercussions.
You can drop everything and take your child out of the store, calming them down away from the audience they very likely know they’re performing for. Or, you can sit down in the aisle and wait for them to work it out of their system.
Some cajole. Some ignore. Some cave. But all will experience tantrums at one point or another.
Some parents have come up with unique ways of putting a stop to tantrums they know are just a show of fake crying.
While it’s a controversial method (isn’t everything in parenting?), many have reported that the reverse-psychology approach is indeed effective in cases of unproductive whinging.
For one shopping mom, though, it was the employees who quickly came up with a way to turn her son’s frown upside-down — or at least distract him from his toddler woes.
Alexandra Seba of Altamonte Springs, Florida, is mom to two kiddos. Jade is 3, and Julian Sol is 1.
They were at Trader Joe’s when trouble started brewing.
“Jade had finished pulling all the groceries off her big girl cart,” Seba told “Good Morning America.” “[Julian Sol] wanted to take her cart and take off with it, but I wasn’t letting him.”
Cue a display of frustration that only a 1-year-old could conjure up. At least three employees jumped into action, making up a song and dance routine on the spot.
“We love you Ju,” they sang and clapped as one continued to scan Seba’s purchases.
“My toddler had a tantrum at checkout, and these workers stepped in to help! I think being a mom is one of the greatest (and most challenging) blessings I’ve ever received,” Seba said, according to Love What Matters. “But when things like this happen, it reminds me all is well and we are completely supported.”
“It made me feel great,” she added. “Moms have a secret pact. We’re a group of women that support each other no matter the differences. We all have kids [who] all have tantrums and we all need help.”
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