It was every parent’s nightmare: US$1,300 worth of Make Up Forever eye shadow in a Sephora store was wrecked, presumably by a young child while his or her mother shopped.
Makeup artist Brittany Nelson shared the photo of the carnage in a Sephora store in Georgia, USA, urging parents to keep watch on their children. “Mammas, please shop for your makeup without your tiny humans. It’s not fun for you…or them…or the expensive product,” she posted on Facebook.
No one knows who is responsible for the mess that took place in this Sephora store this month, but it’s presumed that it was a child. The incident sparked a ‘mummy war’ between people who criticised the parent of the child responsible for the mess, and those who said it was unfair to assume a child was at fault, and to blame the mother.
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Here’s how to raise your kids well so they’ll behave beautifully in public places.
Make sure your children know what’s expected of them before they go out with you: No running, shouting, and touching what doesn’t belong to them unless they ask first.
Kids need to know that they can’t deface walls, pull items off the shelf in a shop, and play with displays. Explain it to them like this: “This isn’t your home, and these aren’t your things so you can’t touch them. You can admire the displays instead.”
One dad demonstrated this admirably in a Target store in Minneapolis, USA, when his 6-year-old son dropped a slushie on the floor by accident, making a gigantic red and blue mess. According to a fellow shopper, the boy apologised immediately, and instead of getting angry, his father said, “Hey, it happens. Let’s go get napkins and I can show you how to clean it up.”
After they cleaned the mess together, the father said, “I know big messes seem overwhelming and you might feel like you can’t do it by yourself, but it’s always okay to ask for help. There is no problem with asking for help when you need it.”
The shopper, Kalynne Marie, posted the incident on Facebook, saying “This is parenting done right.” We couldn’t agree more.
Sometimes, a stern warning is enough to deter an errant child who insists on grabbing things in public. But if your kid shows no sign of letting up, leave the scene immediately. Remove him or her from the venue and say, “You can’t behave like this in [insert the name of the place], so we need to go now.”
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