Other People's Kids

I know we've all been out in public somewhere with our families and across the restaurant or a few aisles over in the store we hear some other child screaming and crying or yelling and throwing a tantrum. Usually when I am out with my son and I hear or see something like this I glance upward and thank God for my wonderfully well behaved little boy. I also either have a bit of pity or, I'll be honest, a feeling of disdain for the other mother whose child is having issues. Usually you can just avoid these people by finishing your meal or moving to another part of the store. What happens, however, when you can't avoid them and they interfere with what you are doing? And worst of all, when the parent of the misbehaving child doesn't even care?

My son and I went shoe shopping for him the other day. We walked into the store and went to his section. We had to pass another woman and her two children. The younger of those two children immediately grabbed onto our stroller and started walking with us, and then proceeded to kick our stroller a few times. His mother, completely preoccupied with the other child, merely said "Honey where are you?" and didn't even glance up to see what was going on. We didn't pay the child much mind and went about our business getting feet measured, picking out shoes, etc. He came in our general direction a few times, but did not bother us much.

He and his mother and brother left the store and we finished our search for shoes and were waiting in line to pay for them when they came back. Once again, the little boy came over to my son and was inches from his face. My son took it in stride and just began talking to the other boy. My son has some speech issues and so it was a little difficult to understand what he was saying. The other boy simply looked at him and said "You're a weirdo". He said this a few more times as my son continued to try to talk to him. He then kicked our stroller again and ran into the store saying "I kicked your stroller" over and over. His mother, once again still engulfed in what the other child was doing, didn't even look up or bother to call out for her son to see where he was.

This other little boy then preceded to take items off of shelves and fling them around the store and at other people, mostly my son. He then tried to force my son to take a scarf that he had in his hand. At this point I had finally had my fill of this child and said "Excuse me, but you need to go see your mother". He merely looked at me and walked away saying "You're not my boss".
Again, this other woman didn't see or hear any of this. Not once did she look up to see what her son was doing.

So how do you deal with people like that? And how do I give my son the tools to deal with other children like this? He will be four in about two months and my heart has never broken faster than when that child called my son a weirdo. I'm sure part of me is just over protective, but I just thought that the whole situation was just ridiculous! How do we teach our children to stand up for themselves with dignity without getting sucked into a fight of some sort. And how do we teach mothers that they need to be responsible for their children in public. Aside from the fact that that little boy was being a menace, he could have been taken out of that store by someone and that mother would have never known the difference until it was too late. We all need to be responsible for our children and teach them manners and respect.