Kids behaving badly (in public)

[Kitsa]

I'm not exactly sure of the kid's age, I'm just estimating from babysitting/au pair experience. He was a little guy who was just at that stage where he's stomprunning like hell and laughing all the way. I'd say maybe 2, 2 1/2.

I think that the abandoned child thing was never thought of because the mother...physically, at least...was there. Why she chose to ignore him, I'm not sure. She seemed very practiced at tuning him out. She seemed like the kind of mom who would forget him at a gas station, realize it 50 miles down the road, shrug and keep driving.

I'm not saying she should have beaten the kid. I'm saying she should have KEPT HOLD of the kid and told him to stay with her, don't run away, be good, stop that. Even a pregnant woman in (what looked like) her late forties can overpower a 2 year old.