I meant Emily. Amy, you are just trying to read into more than is said. You must have a lot of time on your hands.

Well said Amy. And for the post who “wondered” if I have children that have reached the toddler stage..I do. I have a teenager and a preteen and a 4 month old. Oh no..what if my baby grows up to be a brat, right?!! He won’t because I stop the behavior at the time and I don’t waste time with counting and timeouts. My children know their boundries, they know that they are children and the don’t push the envelope. And no, I have never hit them or any of the sort. I just stop the behavior from the get go. It’s a shame that we now live in a society where parents make excuses for their children’s behavior and their own behavior. And brannon..WHY would you make a child apologize for hitting another child? Because it’s wrong? Hurtful, disrespectful maybe?? He is just showing his frusturation. It’s totally “normal” toddler behavior according to most of the posts. Hmm..but he can hit an adult. That is ok? A little heads up. IF you allow a CHILD to get away with it with an adult..he is GOING to do it with another child. Cause you are sending the message that it is OK. Sad.

Amy: None of the people who have a problem with Kingston’s behavior have said anything here about hitting him – so I have no idea why you even brought that up.

And I think it’s very funny that everyone who dares to disagree with the people who say “it’s normal” are being accussed of being childless. If you read the posts from the people who are disagree with you, you’ll see that those who have a problem with this kind of behavior do have children. I’ve raised seven children, several of them were incredibly strong-willed, and they were never allowed to get away with behavior like hitting and pulling hair. I think it’s funny how the people who let their kids act like that always act as if it’s simply impossible to make their kids behave.

Cute Amy And I agree – Lisa’s explanation of “choices” is just laughable. Obviously, allowing a child to run out into the street or hold your hand is ridiculous. Allowing them to choose their own meal or socks is completely different. Additionally, to ask whether or not a parent would require their child to apologize for hitting another child? Another “of course.” But out of curiosity – if you don’t allow “choices” or “time-outs” or “We don’t do that, it’s not nice” (teaching) … how exactly do you discipline your 2 year old?

Okay, after reading all of these comments about how Gwen should discplined Kingston, how he shouldn’t have been allowed to hit her, etc., I finally watched the video for myself. I must ask, what is the big deal?

I agree with the other commentors who have stated that it wasn’t even a tantrum. Also, just because Kingston pulled Gwen’s hair and swiped at her doesn’t mean that she “allowed” it to happen or that she didn’t discpline him once they got in the car.

I mean, should she have pinned his arms down to keep him from hitting her?! The fact of the matter is, toddlers are going to act up sometimes no matter how much you displine them or whether or not you “allow” certain behaviors.

Also, Mary, Lisa, etc., if Gwen HAD discplined Kingston in front of the cameras, how would you have reacted to it? Like other commentors had said, Gwen would probably be getting criticized for discplining her son in front of the paps if that was what she had chosen to do.

All of that said, why can’t people focus on the postive things in this video? For example, at one point, Kingston visits with a dog.

Not necessarily Renee. This debate is probably not as bad as it could have been. I guess I’m one of the people like Lisa then, because I agree with what she and others like her have said. I just think some parents these days are almost afraid to discipline their kids. Like they’re afraid they’ll hurt their feelings or something. But it’s what kids need. Discipline, rules, and boundaries. If it doesn’t start in toddlerhood, when does it begin? When the child is almost past the point of correction? Come on. No one wants their child to be labeled as “the problem child”. Yet, we have those kids in the nursery I volunteer at. Aside from the children’s individual personalities, you can almost certainly tell which kids receive discipline at home, and which kids are allowed to do whatever they want. And as a child care worker, you just don’t like to deal with the unruly kids. I’m absolutely not saying Kingston is unruly. Ok yeah, he’s a toddler, they act out sometimes, no big deal. But the reality is that behaviors like that which continuously go unchecked can escalate and become more problematic as a child gets older. Whatever stance you take on parenting and discipline, I think that’s a fair statement to make.

I think you all need to read the book “I was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids” and take a lesson! I too was the perfect parent before I was gifted with a very strong-willed, physical child (who happens to be 2 days older than Kingston and I would imagine is very much developmentally on track with him). When she gets upset her first reaction is to hit, bite, pull hair, etc. It is her natural reaction (something that is a primal instinct for humans), and is very typical toddler behavior. As a parent when she does any of those actions I immediately stop her, tell her that her behavior is unacceptable and send her to timeout until she can calm down.

I wonder if those of you who are criticizing Gwen think she should have spanked him, or hit him? Do you really think using physical force to teach a child not to get physical will make sense to a young toddler’s mind? I have heard a lot of criticism but nobody has offered any alternate solutions. They have just talked about their perfect children.

All we can do as parents of toddlers is use our words, and some children get it quicker than others. Congratulations to those of you with submissive kids who are borderline perfect. Just because you have a perfect toddler doesn’t mean they will be a perfect teenager so you might want to suspend your judgements or else you might be eating your words one day.

P.S. – I give my daughter choices…*GASP* God forbid I allow a toddler to decide whether she wants to eat toast or cereal for breakfast, or whether she wants to put her socks on first or her shirt, or whether she wants to walk down the steps or be carried. Just the other day she decided that she didn’t want to wear a seatbelt and I figured it would be a really good learning opportunity for her to see some natural consequences…so I slammed on the brakes to teach her a lesson. JUST KIDDING! That was for you Lisa ;o)

Really people need to move on. It’s not our kid and we all will or currently parent differently. I don’t understand why some people are judging Gwen so harshly. I get debate but it’s not a real debate when one side is completely ignoring the other side which is what I feel some of you are doing. It’s basically, I’m right the rest of you wrong is what I’m getting from Lisa and others like her.

I may be in the minority here, but I completely understand what you are saying Lisa, and I totally agree with you as well as LolaCola. I hate to give a reality check, but let’s face it-children acting out, having tantrums in public, and disrupting those around them is socially acceptable in American culture. This is the age where children are allowed to run around church during the service and scream as loud as they want in restaurants while everyone around them is expected to just grin and bear it. That behavior was completely unacceptable in my parents’ and grandparents’ eyes; now, it’s practically the norm. I wasn’t always a little angel, nor were my parents and their siblings. The difference was that we had strictly enforced, clearly outlined limits and knew without a doubt that we would face the consequences if we chose to push them (and for those wondering, my parents never laid a hand on me). Today, as Lisa said, the kids run the show.

That commentary has nothing to do with the video. I wouldn’t call what Kingston did a tantrum, nor would I say Gwen was letting him be the boss. I’m speaking to a bigger issue I see on a regular basis.

I am curious, though, as to why this video was posted here. Kingston is clearly annoyed/upset in the video, which violates the policy of not posting pictures/video of upset children and parents. And one had to know that posting this would spark debate. If that’s what people are trying to avoid, I’m at a loss as to why this was posted on this site at all.

Sarah’s note: I’m not sure why Danielle posted it, but I can ask her if she’d like to comment back.

Note from Danielle: Kingston is only annoyed because he wanted to run away and Gwen would not let him and because he didn’t want to go in the car. We don’t have a problem with debate. We only avoid situations where readers yell their opinions at each other without listening to other points of view.

He’s still as adorable as ever, despite his ‘fit.’ I don’t even consider what he did a ‘tantrum,’ I consider a tantrum full out screaming, back arching, crying, etc.