'YOU STUPID LITTLE GIT! GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!'. I was just reaching for a pint of milk when these exact words pierced my eardrums, coming from opposite the cheese counter. I turned round, and to my great horror I found that the voice belonged to a woman about 25 and was directed at what I presume was her son, a little kid in a duffle coat. He must have been about two, and in tears. I don't know what he had done to inspire his mother to these tirades of hate, but surely it can't have been THAT bad. Maybe I'm just naive and my childhood was way too happy, but surely a tiny person like this boy does not deserve to be called a 'stupid git' by his own mother. And as if that hadn't been enough, the mother in question then continued to wish the little boy dead. By the time that came up, he was crying and desperately clinging on to the sweets shelf. He was promptly removed from there by his mother and dragged out of the shop. From the corner of my eye I saw her slapping the child, somewhere in the distance.

Now I do see that kids can be annoying from time to time, but surely there is no reason to slap them. Especially when they're only two years of age and your own. I'm trying not too sound to self-righteous here, but whenever me or my sister kicked up a fuss in the supermarket ('I want a Looollliiiiiieeee and I'll kick and scream till I get one', that kind of thing), my mum would just pretend she didn't hear us and we usually got bored and gave up after three minutes. That always worked and no one had to call us 'stupid gits' or slap us.

Obviously I don't know much about childcare (no kids and I don't want any either!), but I believe stuff like this is not about childcare, it's about dealing with individuals on a civilised level. Surely that's not too hrd to understand.