Story circulating on Georgia Craigslist.

[Cainkane1]

Now, I'm sure many of you have encountered little ***** in supermarkets. Little kids running about and knocking things over, being rude, walking all over their parents, you know the kind. But the worst are the biters. Yes, those little ***** that feel it is okay to bite you whenever they feel like it.
Here's the best part. A biter got me today when I was at Publix. He broke the *********** skin, too. This was when the gears started turning, the moment I saw a tiny sprickle of blood on the little ****'s teeth as he was grinning at me like the little **** he is. I made my eyes get wide, and started screaming "****** ******". Now, my good friend, Tom we'll call him, was there too, and he instantly picked up on it. He started shouting "****! MAYBE HE DIDN'T GET IT! ****!". By now, the kid is scared ******** and starts crying, and instantly, Mizz Mom appears out of nowhere and starts getting pissy at us for yelling at her kid.

Here's the kicker, I look her straight in the eye and say, 'Maam, get your son tested as soon as possible, he just bit me and I'm... I'm *********** HIV POSITIVE. And now there is silence. Not a peep in the entire store. The brat knows he jut ********** up big time because his mom isn't defending his ass. She just stares at me wide eyed. I walk away from them, buy my **** from the wide eyed cashier, all the while blood is dripping from my calf, making a nice little trail on the floor. And, just s we leave, we start to hear the mother sobbing. Sobbing like the **** she is. I have never felt any more satisfaction than the moment I heard that sob.

Please excuse the profanity.

[JoeEllison]

That's probably not true... but it sure is funny!

I've done something like that, though... I told a chick I was sterile, when she tried to get cash out of me by pretending she was pregnant. I started screaming at her for cheating on me and not using protection while she was cheating, and I pretended to freak out about getting AIDS. It was a good time, I should post it on craigslist. :)

[geni]

old very old. So old that it is listed as an example on encyclopedia dramtica (donnot click the following link well anywhere ever).

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Copypasta#A_Little_Revenge

[Fnord]

That's probably not true... but it sure is funny!

Whether or not it's true, it should be! At least, it will be if any little **** bites me hard enough to draw blood.

;)

[Skeptic Ginger]

Come on. :rolleyes: How many of you have really ever been bitten by some stranger's kid in a public place? Is this really an issue?

Patients bite. Kids in daycare bite. Some kids bit their own family members. People get bitten during assaults.

How many people get bitten by some strange kid at random in a public place? Seems to me to be the TV version of reality.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, though I may be skeptical if it's a story about "someone you know". ;)

[TragicMonkey]

I recommend Is Your Toddler A Cannibal, Or Is He A Vampire? by Dr Spock. As useful today as it was back then.

[madurobob]

If you're in the grocery store and some kid bites your leg... you ain't moving fast enough. Move along, grandpa! Let those of us with **** to do get our food and get the heck out.

And tell those kids to get off my lawn!

[skeptifem]

i saw this on 4chan a lonnngg time ago

[Fnord]

Come on. :rolleyes: How many of you have really ever been bitten by some stranger's kid in a public place? Is this really an issue?

Patients bite. Kids in daycare bite. Some kids bit their own family members. People get bitten during assaults.

How many people get bitten by some strange kid at random in a public place? Seems to me to be the TV version of reality.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, though I may be skeptical if it's a story about "someone you know". ;)

* Raises Hand *

It is an issue. The victim could be carrying AIDS, or the kid could have AIDS.

I've been bitten twice. Once on a public bus, and once in a Wal*Mart. Both times, the kid was an unruly brat whose parents feigned ignorance of the brat's misbehavior.

The kid on the bus did not like it that I could not move my legs to let him crawl under my seat (I was balancing two bags of groceries on my lap).

The Wal*Mart kid wanted to get past me in the check-out line (there were others in my way, and no place for me to move).

Of course, in both cases the parents claimed that I had provoked their precious little lambs. If it happens again - Even though I don't ride the bus or go to Wal*Mart anymore - I'll be sure to remember to mention something about AIDS.

:mad:

[Soapy Sam]

Come on. :rolleyes: How many of you have really ever been bitten by some stranger's kid in a public place? Is this really an issue?

I sort of was once. This is 100% true. I was walking through a Marks & Spencer's store. Long items of clothing were on racks on either side of the aisle. A small boy- maybe three or four, ran out from behind one of these, straight into my knee, which got him on the lip, which did bleed a little. (I later found his front tooth had actually torn my trouserleg, though not my skin.
Anyway , he got a fright, naturally and started screaming. His mama, who had allowed him to run away, immediately arrived and started yelling at me that I should look where I was going, etc. Within seconds, I was surrounded by a gauntlet of females making varied tutting noises and several comments about (my) carelessness.

I was not amused. While I had sympathy for the kid himself, who was just being a wee boy, I was pretty shocked by the response of the women .
I don't think I've been in that shop since. Must be twenty years ago. He's probably out there even now, lithping and carrying a knife...

[Fnord]

SS, it was obviously your fault, because (1) you are a man, (2) the injured party was a child, and (3) the child was injured because he came in contact with you.

You were lucky you weren't lynched.

(Disclaimer: This post contains sarcasm, and should therefore not be construed as the true opinion of the poster, who believes that children who can not be called to heel should be kept on leashes.)

[casebro]

Here's how I once responded to an unruly child. Mom was right there, watching the kind be a brat. I told her: " I can't hit your kid, since I'm not his parent that would be considered an assault on a child. But since you are responsible for his misbehavior, I wondering about belting you one." She turned a lighter color. I'm 6'3", 270 pounds. People are always ready to expect violence from me. I think it is prejudice against me. This time, I used a bit of reverse discrimination to my advantage. I hope she did something about disciplining the child. Eventually.

[Soapy Sam]

I actually wore reins and a harness when I was a toddler.
It kept me under control, but I now have a reflex tendency to gallop when anyone clicks his tongue. I've seen a modern equivalent on the streets recently. Good idea, I think.

Casebro- a Glasgow accent helps, I find. I was once being repeatedly kicked by a child behind me in an aircraft. When I objected, the father replied that he didn't know how to stop it.
I replied that I ****-ing well did.
They moved seat to get away from the vicious Scots thug. Bliss.

[Skeptic Ginger]

I sort of was once. This is 100% true. I was walking through a Marks & Spencer's store. Long items of clothing were on racks on either side of the aisle. A small boy- maybe three or four, ran out from behind one of these, straight into my knee, which got him on the lip, which did bleed a little. (I later found his front tooth had actually torn my trouserleg, though not my skin.
Anyway , he got a fright, naturally and started screaming. His mama, who had allowed him to run away, immediately arrived and started yelling at me that I should look where I was going, etc. Within seconds, I was surrounded by a gauntlet of females making varied tutting noises and several comments about (my) carelessness.

I was not amused. While I had sympathy for the kid himself, who was just being a wee boy, I was pretty shocked by the response of the women .
I don't think I've been in that shop since. Must be twenty years ago. He's probably out there even now, lithping and carrying a knife...This is certainly believable. But it is different from a kid biting a stranger in the store.

I really have to wonder what kind of neighborhood Fnord would be in for those accounts. ;)

I'm not saying kids don't bite or aren't brats that parents don't control. That is as common as toast. What I'm saying is that unless you are physically restraining a kid, they just aren't likely to bite a stranger. Even bratty kids don't just go around assaulting strangers. (Until they are about 10-12 or older that is.)

If you grab a kid, then I could see them biting you. But not just because you were in their way or looked cross eyed at them.

[Skeptic Ginger]

I actually wore reins and a harness when I was a toddler.
It kept me under control, but I now have a reflex tendency to gallop when anyone clicks his tongue. I've seen a modern equivalent on the streets recently. Good idea, I think.

Casebro- a Glasgow accent helps, I find. I was once being repeatedly kicked by a child behind me in an aircraft. When I objected, the father replied that he didn't know how to stop it.
I replied that I ****-ing well did.
They moved seat to get away from the vicious Scots thug. Bliss.I could see this happening as well. Having a kid kick someone in front of them doesn't sound unusual. But again, kicking is not biting. The kid in that case would be doing it to be annoying rather than a bite which is assaultive in nature.

For the kid to be assaultive, you have to confront the kid. To be annoying, you just have to be close enough.

[Skeptic Ginger]

Here's how I once responded to an unruly child. Mom was right there, watching the kind be a brat. I told her: " I can't hit your kid, since I'm not his parent that would be considered an assault on a child. But since you are responsible for his misbehavior, I wondering about belting you one." She turned a lighter color. I'm 6'3", 270 pounds. People are always ready to expect violence from me. I think it is prejudice against me. This time, I used a bit of reverse discrimination to my advantage. I hope she did something about disciplining the child. Eventually.I think you could be guilty of assault for hitting anyone regardless of age.

[tkingdoll]

OK, I admit I'm not keen on children and also have a violent temper on occasion, but...

if a child bit me, I would kick it in the face.

OK, I'm off to take a chill pill. I've had a long day.

[Skeptic Ginger]

I tell kids to knock it off or I'll call the store manager. That usually works better than saying you'll call their parents who they obviously don't fear.

And I've told parents that "my friend's child was kidnapped when she left him alone". Doesn't always work, but sometimes it works better than just insulting their parenting skills. :)

[luchog]

While I've never been bitten, I've had just about every other thing done to me that an undisciplined, bratty, unsupervised young child could possibly do to me. I don't want to think about the number of times I've had them just run into me; trip me; hit me with shopping carts, bicycles, etc.; scratch me; kick me; hit me; and so on. Last time I went shopping at REI, I had one little hooligan follow me around on a tricycle repeatedly running into me, while his parents stood a few yards away yacking at each other about bicycles and completely ignoring their future spree killer.

My first impulse, which I am able to resist fairly easily, is to hit the little brat. This is, however, entirely wrong, since he's not entirely to blame for his behaviour. He simply hasn't been taught any better, and it's not my place to teach him. My second impulse is to hit his parents, since they are to blame for his behaviour. Unfortunately, I've managed to resist this impulse quite effectively so far. One day I will not.

Too many parents simply refuse to do anything even remotely approaching disciplining their children. And I know someone is going to claim that that's because they'd be arrested for abuse if they did, or something equally ludicrious. But that's rarely the real case. Kids don't get that out of control unless they have a history of a complete lack of discipline. One of the worst brats I've ever had to deal with had a mother who would frequently announce in her most self-righteous voice that she didn't "believe in physical punishment", but that she "had a dialogue" with her child that made more "brutal and repressive" forms of discipline unnecessary. Her child was one of the worst hellions I have ever seen. Completely and totally out of control.

The "dialog" that kid needed most was with the business end of a hickory switch. Actually, I think she also started getting into that "Indigo child" nonsense as well.

Every parent I've ever heard use that "dialog" and anti-corporal punishment attitude from had kids who were unbearable brats. Without exception. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't children who can be effectively raised that way, and I'm sure someone here will claim that they raised their children that way "and they turned out just fine"; but I've certainly never seen one.

[DanishDynamite]

I suspect the story is complete BS and probably some sort of anti-gay screed.

Exhibit A: The main character isn't very likable, what with all the cursing and general denigration of kids in the beginning.
Exhibit B: He's there with "his friend Tom" and gleefully announces that he has AIDS. What straight guy would say this, even as a joke?

Just my opinion.

[luchog]

I really have to wonder what kind of neighborhood Fnord would be in for those accounts. ;)

I've actually seen that sort of thing, and had it happen to me (not the biting, but some pretty out of control kids), in some of the more upscale trenoid shops and locations in town. I've also seen very polite and well-mannered kids in working-class neighborhoods. It depends entirely on the parents, and their willingness to discipline their children. I find that ineffective "alternative" forms of discipline which are likely to produce psychotic brats are more common in the middle- and upper-middle-classes than in the working- or lower-classes.

If you grab a kid, then I could see them biting you. But not just because you were in their way or looked cross eyed at them.
I've seen 3-8 year olds do some incredibly violent things to people who weren't in any way interacting with them. Just run up and hit someone out of nowhere, run screaming around a store throwing things at people, riding tricycles or other toy vehicles into people completely at random, and so on.
They do it because they know they can get away with it.

[Fnord]

I really have to wonder what kind of neighborhood Fnord would be in for those accounts. ;)

Charlotte, Michigan for the "Wal*Mart Supercenter".

Lansing, Michigan for the "Capital Area Transportation Authority" bus ride.

Ahh ... Michigan ... I remember it well ... Wal*Mart ... CATA ... UAW goons getting drunk at the Wagon Wheel (Portland) and the Log Jam (Grand Ledge) while their kids follow their footsteps right into juvie hall ...

Makes me appreciate Anaheim all the more!

[korenyx]

Once when I was out walking a two-year-old boy started whipping me on the leg with a stick. His father made no attempt to stop him and did not say he was sorry.
Lucky for the brat I saw him coming or I might have jumped and dropped a 5 lb. wieght on his head.

[latent aaaack]

"I look her straight in the eye and say"

This and "paused for a moment and then said..." or "thought for a moment and then said..." are hallmarks of obvious jokes as well as completely insane reactions like only standing still and letting out a sobs in response to her son being just infected with aids. Tkingdoll's anti-social confession made me laugh though.

[fishbait]

Good examples of why tigers eat their young.

[skeptifem]

I suspect the story is complete BS and probably some sort of anti-gay screed.

Exhibit A: The main character isn't very likable, what with all the cursing and general denigration of kids in the beginning.
Exhibit B: He's there with "his friend Tom" and gleefully announces that he has AIDS. What straight guy would say this, even as a joke?

Just my opinion.

your opinion is wrong

[Garrette]

The "dialog" that kid needed most was with the business end of a hickory switch.Perhaps by this time in the child's development nothing else would work, but as a cureall I think you're overstating the case.


Every parent I've ever heard use that "dialog" and anti-corporal punishment attitude from had kids who were unbearable brats. Without exception.I've three children who would never behave in any manner remotely approaching that described in the OP. No corporal punishment whatsoever in their upbringing. I will admit, however, that we never ruled it out for them.


Now, I'm not saying that there aren't children who can be effectively raised that way, and I'm sure someone here will claim that they raised their children that way "and they turned out just fine";Me! Me!


but I've certainly never seen one.How do you know? Have you queried the parents of every well-behaved child you have seen?

[fuelair]

I think you could be guilty of assault for hitting anyone regardless of age.
You could be - but if it went to court and I was on a jury you would get off.

[fuelair]

I tell kids to knock it off or I'll call the store manager. That usually works better than saying you'll call their parents who they obviously don't fear.

And I've told parents that "my friend's child was kidnapped when she left him alone". Doesn't always work, but sometimes it works better than just insulting their parenting skills. :)
And sometimes that would cause them to move further away from their little darling!! By the way, I actually like kids - most of them are really neat. A few, though, give the rest a bad name to many people.:)

[fuelair]

I suspect the story is complete BS and probably some sort of anti-gay screed.

Exhibit A: The main character isn't very likable, what with all the cursing and general denigration of kids in the beginning.
Exhibit B: He's there with "his friend Tom" and gleefully announces that he has AIDS. What straight guy would say this, even as a joke?

Just my opinion.I would. In the exact circumstance (I would also have an unfortunate reflex action at the time of the bite).:)

[Wheezebucket]

Kids rule. If you get kicked by one, you probably had it coming. They have **** to do and can't be bothered by your adult rules of conduct. There are pirates to fight, pokemon to catch, and robots to turn in to. Never mind all the stuff they have yet to climb on just sitting there, taunting them mercilessly.

Kids going crazy in public is kind of awesome more often than not. But I suppose it would suck if one of them got AIDs because of it.

[WildCat]

I love children!




But you have to cook them juuuuust right.

[alfaniner]

In a bit of staircase wit, I once came up with the line (for the parent) "You know, I take great pleasure in knowing that, in 8 or 10 years your kid is going to be a teenager, and then you'll know exactly how I feel right now."

[thaiboxerken]

This type of behavior doesn't happen in Japan, not in my experience. Or it rarely does. I did see one toddler on a train getting rowdy. Well, the guy the kid was bothering walked up to the mother and lectured her on controlling her children. She was very apologetic, bowed several times (as is custom in Japan) and took immediate control of her child.

If someone tried this in the states, I'm thinking the parent would be ready to fight. So, I think I'll confront the next parent that has an unruly child, I need to test my jujitsu skills.

[JoeEllison]

This type of behavior doesn't happen in Japan, not in my experience. Or it rarely does. I did see one toddler on a train getting rowdy. Well, the guy the kid was bothering walked up to the mother and lectured her on controlling her children. She was very apologetic, bowed several times (as is custom in Japan) and took immediate control of her child.

If someone tried this in the states, I'm thinking the parent would be ready to fight. So, I think I'll confront the next parent that has an unruly child, I need to test my jujitsu skills.

Good luck with that... I came close to doing it a few months ago at Blockbuster, trying to rent some movies. Luckily for everyone involved, the dad picked up the unruly child and carried him outside to cool off.

[Aardvark422]

When my brother was a little boy, my mom kept him on a harness and leash. I remember going on vacation and mom would tie my brother to the outside of the motorhome (parked of course) to keep him from wandering off or bugging people walking by. But I don't remember him being a bad kid, just a little independent. Geez, I'm still laughing at the looks people would give our family seeing my brother tied up outside playing with his toys.

[Beerina]

I love children!




But you have to cook them juuuuust right.

Unfortunately, most nowadays aren't well-marbled but just out-and-out fatty.

[krelnik]

Come on. :rolleyes: How many of you have really ever been bitten by some stranger's kid in a public place? Is this really an issue?

I agree with skeptigirl. I have a hard time believing this EVER happens.

[Fnord]

I agree with skeptigirl. I have a hard time believing this EVER happens.

... until it happens to you.

[roger]

They aren't called kneebiters on a lark.

[Skeptic Ginger]

In a bit of staircase wit, I once came up with the line (for the parent) "You know, I take great pleasure in knowing that, in 8 or 10 years your kid is going to be a teenager, and then you'll know exactly how I feel right now."
Love the new avatar. :D

[slingblade]

People and kids. Your own, someone else's....it's always a circus.


And some of us hate the circus.



A child was snatched right outside my sons' elementary school, around 1984-85, driven up to the mountains, raped, killed and buried in a shallow grave. It hit me hard, it having happened just doors away from my house, as it were. I kept a better, closer eye on my boys, 4 and 5.

Around that time, I was taking them to have photos made. We had parked in the back, and had to walk around a shopping center wall to get to the studio. Being boys, they ran ahead of me, briefly, and I hollered sharply at them to get back with me, now! We were coming up on the corner of the building, see, and they'd be out of my sight and reach in only seconds.

At that very instant, some guy comes around the corner, hears me yell, and launches into a tirade about how I shouldn't be yelling at my kids, I should be loving them, because of that little girl who was just snatched and killed. I didn't respond at first, but caught up with my sons and took their hands. While I'm doing this, he's yelling "Don't walk away from me, you stupid *****! I'm talking to you! Come back here!" and so forth.

I then whipped around and told Mr. Nosey Parker that the little girl was the exact reason I was ordering my sons to walk with me, not ahead of me, and that if I'd stayed to receive my deserved lecture, they'd be gone by now, and who the **** was he to distract me from my job of watching my kids, just so he could yell at me for not watching my kids???

Yeah. Some of us hate the circus.



(...no, he didn't get my point. He just kept calling me a stupid ***** and worse until I entered the photo studio.)

[Madalch]

When my sister was a small child, my mother tried to put her on a leash when they went out shopping. The little brat ran around my mother's legs and tied her up with the damned thing!

This is the same sister who, at the age of four, went to the store by herself when my mother wasn't looking.

[Redtail]

I never had a problem with kids biting, hitting, etc... However I have had to yell "STOP!" sharply at some of the younger ones because for some reason they are drawn to the tailpipes and 200+ miles tends to make those things hot.

Most of the parents understand but a few of the kids misted up and I got mommy and daddy in my face screaming about making their little angel cry. There are times when I consider just letting them pay for their lil angel's skin graft.

[gnome]

I am also one who does not advocate corporal punishment. I don't object to it if it's done within reason, but it's not my preference.

I think some people have a mistaken idea of how it works... it's not a case of taking a kid and instead of punishing them, asking them pretty please to behave, or having a "dialog" and "explaining" why it's important.

It's a matter of realizing that you have a good deal of leverage. Kids want all kinds of things that you are not obligated to provide. Suspension of privileges, of liberty, of favors done for them... they work. In fact I've often imagined a kid planning mischief might weigh the consequence of a spanking as something more worth it than possibly losing access to their favorite entertainment for a week. I'm also a big fan of the classic three-count as long as you're not bluffing.

[soetkin]

I'm also a big fan of the classic three-count as long as you're not bluffing.
The three-count worked like magic when my sister and I were kids, because my parents really did not bluff. They only rarely had to resort to a few smacks on the rear when we were being especially obnoxious.
I was raised pretty strictly and if I ever have kids, they'll be raised the same way but seeing as I generally really dislike children, it's not likely I'll ever have them.

[Wheezebucket]

REAL kids will see the three count for what it is and ignore it outright! If they're doing their job properly they're going to be punished for something eventually anyway, so they might as well go for the gold.

Zeus bless you, children! Don't get AIDS or get kidnapped or melt your skin off, but do continue to mix things up. It's the spice of life!

[mijopaalmc]

Can you get AIDS from biting someone with AIDS or being bitten by someone with AIDS?

That was one thing that I found suspect about this urban legend.

[KateHL]

Can you get AIDS from biting someone with AIDS or being bitten by someone with AIDS?

That was one thing that I found suspect about this urban legend.Only if the biter also has an open wound does he have a chance of it (or transmitting it).


When I was employed with Barnes + Noble I worked in the children's section a lot. You may or may not be surprised to know that most parents believe this is actually a section to dump their small children (often 3 or 4 years old) while they go drink lattes and browse magazines (which they won't purchase) in the cafe. One lady left her two three-year-old twins and 18-month-old baby for hours. It was a fairly busy day so it took me awhile to realize they were alone. They had been fairly well-behaved, considering, besides pulling down all the merchandise from every shelf they could reach. The twins didn't know what "Mommy's" name was so we had to walk around the store looking for her. No luck. They weren't worried about it, which is kind of sad. I would have been terrified at that age without my mama. An hour or so and several more trips around the store later, we were going to have our security guard call the police when the mother and her friend came up. She was obviously rattled to see two managers, a security guard and myself standing around her children. Then she exploded on us when we said we were worried that her very young children had been left alone for several hours and that, to our knowledge, she had left the store entirely. She screamed that she'd be shopping at Books-a-Million from now on. One of the little boys smiled at me on his way out and said "Bye, Kate."

There were much worse kid stories (the things we found in dark corners!), but that was one time I felt sick to see children going home with their parents.

[Beerina]

Video game stores have similar stories of parents dropping off their kids who hang out playing the games all day then get picked up after work.

[DanishDynamite]

I had no idea people were regularly bitten by youngsters. Never heard of such a case in this country. Could this be an American thing?

[Soapy Sam]

I do know of a case of a kid(4-ish) who repeatedly bit other kids in kindergarten.
A mother (friend of a friend) arrived to collect her son, to find him being bitten (on the ear no less). She hauled the biter off him , whereupon he bit her finger. The mother of the biter was apologetic but "didn't know what to do". He was eventually banned by the owners, but that's hardly a solution. What the kid needed was to associate biting others with something unpleasant happening to him immediately, so he would learn to behave in a civilised fashion. Everyone wanted to be his friend, nobody had the guts to be his teacher. He'll be about twelve now. I wonder if he ever learned?

You can housetrain a puppy in a couple of weeks. Why is it so hard to socialise a kid?

[Mercutio]

Every parent I've ever heard use that "dialog" and anti-corporal punishment attitude from had kids who were unbearable brats. Without exception. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't children who can be effectively raised that way, and I'm sure someone here will claim that they raised their children that way "and they turned out just fine"; but I've certainly never seen one.
I'll echo Garrette here--you may not have seen one, but I'll put my own family as exhibit number... well, two, after Garrette, I guess. I also don't have a problem with other people's kids--kids who are hellions with their parents (one was fondly known as "Damien" to the daycare staff... after hours) are just fine with me.

Childcare is one of those things that everybody can feel free to think they are an expert at... and very few are.

And the fact that comments like Teek's are laughed at is almost as depressing as the initial comment.

[slingblade]

I had no idea people were regularly bitten by youngsters. Never heard of such a case in this country. Could this be an American thing?

Yes, yes. Purely and only American. We train them in proper technique from the moment they cut the first incisor. Most of us even supply handy, Velcro-covered condiment shakers for salt and pepper that can be attached to any garment, for easy access. I once owned a factory that produced Toddler Catsup and Mustard Dispensers, for those who like their humans well-seasoned.

Courses in The Fine Art of Biting a Chunk Out of Someone are offered in all pre-schools and day-care centers--the field trips are riotously funny, let me tell you! Nothing quite as satisfying as unleashing an American Biting Toddler Horde at the DMV or in church. Really makes our day!

I understand it's supposed to be offered as an Olympic sport in the near future. Beware the Team America Toddler Teethers! They'll take a bite out of you damn foreigners. Literally.

[luchog]

It's a matter of realizing that you have a good deal of leverage. Kids want all kinds of things that you are not obligated to provide. Suspension of privileges, of liberty, of favors done for them... they work.
Not on all kids, it doesn't. My wife tried that for years with her two; and it didn't work at all once they learned how to work the system. It got to the point where they refused to do anything at all unless there was a substantial bribe involved. And since she's disabled, they also knew that all they had to do was wait until she had to go lie down for a couple hours (due to excessive pain and fatigue), and they were free to do pretty much anything they wanted. They also learned that being obnoxious enough would greatly shorten the time it would take to get her to go to bed. They pretty much ran the household until I convinced her to up the ante a bit, and introduce corporal punishment.

It's amazing how motivated a kid will become when threatened with a good hard whack on the bottom.

[luchog]

Can you get AIDS from biting someone with AIDS or being bitten by someone with AIDS?

That was one thing that I found suspect about this urban legend.

Most people aren't that familiar with AIDS transmission methods and rates. I'd say that very few people, in fact, understand them. Most people have a greatly distorted, if not outright wrong, understanding of how it's transmitted.

As with many other things, the accuracy of a statement has little to no bearing on it's usefulness. What people do or will believe is all that matters.

[gnome]

duplicate post.

[gnome]

Not on all kids, it doesn't. My wife tried that for years with her two; and it didn't work at all once they learned how to work the system. It got to the point where they refused to do anything at all unless there was a substantial bribe involved. And since she's disabled, they also knew that all they had to do was wait until she had to go lie down for a couple hours (due to excessive pain and fatigue), and they were free to do pretty much anything they wanted. They also learned that being obnoxious enough would greatly shorten the time it would take to get her to go to bed. They pretty much ran the household until I convinced her to up the ante a bit, and introduce corporal punishment.

It's amazing how motivated a kid will become when threatened with a good hard whack on the bottom.

Which is why I don't insist that my methods will in fact work for everyone. I just think they work better for a lot of kids than most people suppose.

I would wonder what was going on in their early childhood, however.

In the situation you describe, I'm glad what you suggested worked and good for you for convincing her to stand up to the kids... but just as an intellectual exercise, did she really go all the way on suspending privileges? For example, once my girlfriend bagged up all of her kids' belongings for a month. Electronic devices require batteries and power cords.

[SoBitter]

This reminds me of a flight I was on, sitting next to a girl of about 20 whom I knew vaguely (we had chatted on the bus to the airport and waiting for the flight). A small child behind us kept kicking the seat and although his mother told him to stop, he would not. She ignored his kicking after the first scolding or two. He then started to put his hand through the seat space and poke the girl next to me. After becoming exasperated, she waited for the next time the arm appeared and pinched it, haha. He stopped after that.

Luckily I've never been bitten by a child. I try to stay away from them if at all possible. I would probably try to call animal control if bitten by one. You never know, they may have rabies.