I saw this yesterday morning at a local diner. I stopped in to get a
breakfast to go and while waiting for my food I found myself watching a
nearby table. There were two boys there, approximate ages of 4 and 8. Also
present were two women the boys were calling Mom and Grandma.

Mom was loudly trying to make her screaming 4 year old to eat. She was
standing on one leg, the other leg was propped on the bench seat; she was
holding the boys arms down with one hand while trying to force a spoon into
his mouth. Across from this, the 8 year old was throwing food at his
brother whenever the little one opened his mouth to scream "I don't want to
eat! I want to play the game!" Grandma was calmly eating and staring
vaguely into space with no indication she even noticed the fiasco. Other
diners watched with varying degrees of disgust, while the employees glanced
toward the group with increasing hostility.

About this time I noticed the game the boy was screaming about was one of
those big boxes filled with stuffed animals and a grappling hook the player
was supposed to manipulate in order to get a prize. God only knows whose
bright idea it was to seat that bunch next to this contraption, but
eventually Mom gave up and told her kids she'd get some change so they could
play the game. Then Mom and Grandma stood in line at the register to break
a bill. Now the two boys are beating at the game with their fists, and
trying to rock it back and forth. Eventually they tired of that and went to
stand by their mom.

Older boy starts raising his leg and kicking Mom with his knee. She thinks
it's hilarious, and does it back to the boy. Other patrons have to back
away to avoid becoming a casualty. Younger boy tries the same move on
Grandma, who suddenly emerges from her coma and hits him so hard on the back
of his head I heard the smack from 15 ft away. The poor boy looked
absolutely stunned and buried his face in Grandma's tummy. Grandma patted
him on the shoulder a couple of times and slipped back into her coma. Other
people are looking shocked and no one seems to know what to say or do. Mom
had her back to the pair and was still exchanging knee kicks with her older
son, so she was obvious to what had just happened.

Finally Mom gets to the front of the line, pays up and leads the two boys
back to the stupid game and they have a couple of tries. This was the first
time I could actually see the mom's face and I was totally shocked - she
looked very young to have kids of that age. She really looked well short of
twenty. Maybe that's why she acted as much a kid as the *real* kids.
Grandma wandered off to the bathroom.

Time to leave! Only Mom wants to play first. She makes a dash to the door
and holds it shut from the outside while the two boys yell delightedly,
pound on the glass, then run through the restaurant looking for another
exit. Mom starts running along outside, apparently bent on holding the
second exit door shut, too. Suddenly the boys run back to the door and make
it out before Mom returns. They're all happy and high-fiving each other.

New game. Mom is chasing her boys around cars in the parking lot, I think
it was a game of tag. I was watching this and thinking that this was so
dangerous when I glanced away for a second. Next I hear a quick screech of
breaks, one of the boys screaming, and the mother yelling curses at someone.
I went outside and saw the youngest sitting on the pavement with a scraped
knee, crying because he was bleeding. The older son was trying to calm him
down and get him up. Just a few feet away was a car with a shocked man in
the drivers seat. Mom was screaming at the driver and kicking at the car
door. The driver had his window down a bit and was yelling back that he
stopped in time and it wouldn't have been a problem if her son hadn't run
out in front of him. The restaurants manager arrives to try to restore
order, but his efforts pretty much just increase the chaos.

Hey, here comes Grandma! She still seems dazed, doesn't stop to talk to
anyone, just walks past the whole scene and gets into her minivan. She
starts yelling that she's leaving NOW and honking her horn. Mom and kids
are well-trained - they stop everything and hurry over to the van and jump
in. Grandma pulls out and quietly leaves the scene. The driver is
inspecting his car door for dents and the diner's manager is on a cell phone
giving the license plate number and van description to the police.

My food is finally handed to me and I can go home to blessed silence.

~~ Shelly ~~