Mom is correct. Here’s how the scene goes when Mom and Rita
enter the store:
“Mom! Can I push a cart?”
“I don’t think so, dear. Not today. Look at the Fuzzy Bear sign!”
“Why can’t I?”
“I just told you, dear. Now please don’t start giving me a hard
time.”
“I wanna push my own one!”
“Now stop that! That’s enough! Come on, we’ve got a lot of things
to get.”
“I never get to do anything!” Rita starts crying loudly.
“OK, OK! Stop that!” Mom gets a kiddie cart for Rita. She grabs
the cart, but Mom holds the cart for a second and looks at her
daughter firmly.
“Rita, look at me. You have to promise me you won’t run with the
cart. You might hurt someone. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“And you promise you won’t run with the cart?”
“Yes.”
“Say ‘I promise.’”
“I promise.”
“OK. Now let’s get our stuff. I’ll put some things in your cart.”
Rita does just fine for six minutes. Then she starts running with
her kiddie cart, giggling as she zooms past the spaghetti sauce. Her
mother pretends she doesn’t notice, but then she cuts the shopping
trip short after getting only one-third of the things she needed. Maybe
she can come back later and get the rest of what she wants by herself.
How Did She Do?
A classic example of a child intimidating a parent with the threat of public
embarrassment. Mom is intimidated into a desperate attempt at little-adult
reasoning (“You might hurt someone”) and the elicitation of futile promises.