Kicked off the bus

I’ve read several articles recently about the British Columbia mother and her 20 month-old daughter who were kicked off a city bus 14 blocks from their destination because her toddler was – ready for it – crying.

Yes, you read that right.  Apparently, after five minutes of being on the bus, and her daughter crying loudly (despite her mother’s desperate attempts to soothe her), the driver told her that she had to learn to control her daughter and stopped the bus and sent them off.

I was shocked.  

If that wasn’t bad enough, the flurry of internet attention that she’s garnered has been massive – and a lot of it has been commenters calling her an unfit mother, lazy, an attention-seeking princess, a hippie who knows no boundaries, and a single mom who should go to college to afford a car. 

Seriously.

Now, I know firsthand how difficult it is to drive while a child is screaming in the backseat.  I’m sure most of you moms out there have been there at least once.   It’s not easy and I can understand how distracting it would be for the driver of the bus. 

However, kicking her off – not even at another bus stop, as I understand it – is simply unimaginable.  

I think the worst part for me, though, is the comments from people.   I’m amazed at how free people are at sharing their very strong opinions on all kinds of things on the internet, when they’re shielded by the vastness of cyberspace.    I’m peeved that one commenter, who signed as “Old Guy” wrote “spare the rod, spoil the child.”  Like, seriously?   Did children of thirty or fifty years ago not have any temper tantrums ever?   Were they all perfectly angelic children?   Did whipping kids turn them into better adults as a result?  

What do you think of all this?   Am I the only person (who does, in fact, discipline my children and isn’t a total pushover, but still has children who meltdown on occasion) who feels for this poor mother from BC?