Mom Snaps Photo of Kind Worker at Target Sitting on Floor with Toddler After Tantrum
I suspect that every parent with a kid under the age of 12 months has experienced the stomach-dropping horror of a public tantrum. They usually start the same way.
Your little one wants to go somewhere in a particular store. Perhaps he or she sees something particularly enticing and wants it.
Of course, you have to say no for one reason or another. And that denial leads to tears, screams and sometimes the pounding of little fists and feet on the store’s linoleum.
It’s never a fun experience for mom or dad. It certainly wasn’t for Massachusetts resident Brianna Lelos.
In late December, Lelos’ daughter had a meltdown in a Wilmington, Massachusetts, Target.
It was the kind of fit that parents dread, and it ended with the little girl plonking her bottom on the floor of the store and refusing to move.
Humiliation. Shame. Condemnation. Lelos probably expected any and all of these reactions.
To Liliana of the Wilmington, MA @Target store: Thankyou. I *think* every parents knows the feeling of their toddler/any age child having a tantrum in the middle of the store…… @Target thank-you for having kind, caring, humans working at your stores. It’s appreciated. pic.twitter.com/LS4LqEIaU0
— Brianna Lelos (@brianna_lelos) December 22, 2018
But according to the Springfield News-Sun, a Target employee named Lianna did exactly the opposite.
Lianna sat on the floor with Lelos’ toddler. Eventually, she managed to get the little girl calmed down and ready to return to mama.
“Thank you,” Lelos later wrote on Twitter. “ I *think* every parents knows the feeling of their toddler/any age child having a tantrum in the middle of the store.
“Target, thank you for having kind, caring humans working at your stores. It’s appreciated.”
For its part, the store responded with an equally gracious tweet. “Thank you for reaching out to us about how we helped your #TargetLittle have a better visit. We strive to provide great guest service and we are excited to hear what a great job our team member did.
“We will forward this awesome feedback to our Wilmington Store Leadership team.” A kind response to a common problem.
Whatever your strategy is to handle a tantrum, we can all be glad that one young family had a fit defused by a stranger. Goodness knows more mothers and fathers have need of it.
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