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Mom Publicly Punishes Daughters by Having Them Sit in Time-Out in Vegetable Aisle at Store

By Liz Boselli June 13, 2018 at 6:37pm

Sometimes, being in a public place with children can be challenging. With plenty of energy and a sudden lack of manners, kids can often wreak havoc at the most inconvenient of times.

But what do you do when your child is misbehaving in public and telling them to cut it out isn’t enough?

One mom has recently been turning heads for the way she disciplined her young daughters when they were acting out during a trip to the supermarket.

While Louise Palai and her daughters were out grocery shopping at a local Tesco market in England, her daughters Alisa, 6, and Ebony, 7, began running around the store being silly and making noise.

Soon, mom had enough, and quietly went over to her children. She then led them over to the vegetable section of the store and told them to sit quietly on the floor in a time-out.

For about seven minutes, Louise stood with her children as they sat in their time out. She also took a picture of the girls to remind them what happens when they misbehave.

“I stood with them while they were in time-out, out the way of shoppers, and some people looked at us funny, some smiled, and a gentleman did praised me for what I did,” she said.

After their punishment time was up, the girls apologized to their mom and the family continued with their grocery shopping.

“After time-out finished, I spoke to both of them about why they had been in time-out, gave them a hug and kiss, they said sorry, and we carried on shopping,” she added.

Many have praised Louise for her parenting methods, arguing that the best time for a teachable moment is in the moment.

“Nothing wrong with this. My son knows there’s a naughty corner anywhere and everywhere we go. How is making them sit quietly controversial? Screaming and shouting at them would be way worse,” one commenter wrote.

“Not controversial at all!” another wrote. “Our children need to be disciplined wherever we are. Kids are smart they will work out they can act out in public without repercussions. Making them have time out, in the shops (as we do at home) is not harsh.”

Others, however, feel Louise’s punishment was humiliating, many also in disagreement with publishing the photos on social media.

“No!! Humiliation is not good parenting, ever. It shows a complete lack of empathy and compassion,” one user said.

“I think it’s reasonable to take your kids to a calm down spot if they are getting hyper, but I don’t agree with taking a photo and publishing it for others to see,” another said.

What do you think? Was this mom’s punishment too harsh, or was she right to discipline her children the way she did?

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