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She went out for pancakes and found herself in the middle of a parenting sh*t storm.

 

It was her kid that the mean pancake lady yelled at.

Earlier this week, a family in the United States made news while out for breakfast.

Tara Carson, her husband John and their 21-month-old daughter were on holiday in Maine when they decided to go to Marcy’s Diner for breakfast. 

After ordering pancakes, their quiet breakfast out quickly unravelled, causing people across the world to ask whether it is ever appropriate to yell at someone else’s child after Darla Neugebauer – the diner’s owner – took it upon herself to discipline the young family.

Diner owner Darla Neugebauer remains unapologetic.

“I chose to yell at a kid, it made her shut-up, which made me happy, it made my staff happy, it made the 75 other people dining here happy, and they left, they may never come back, other people may not come in. Their loss really.” Darla told local news station WCSH6.

Now Tara Carson has written an article published today by The Washington Post.

“Making national news was the last thing we expected on our quiet summer getaway to Maine this week.” she wrote.

Carson wrote at first that Neugebauer’s behaviour seemed so unprofessional, she didn’t take her seriously – until the owner told her young daughter to “shut the hell up.”

“I’ll never forget the look of fear on my baby’s face,” Carson said.

Carson, who responded to the incident with a passionate post on Macy’s Diner’s Facebook page, didn’t expect the entire online community to comment on her parenting skills.

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“I want to raise my daughter to be good on airplanes and in restaurants and other public places. She is a normal toddler who is funny and curious and well-behaved. Is she perfect? No. Am I a perfect parent? Certainly not. But I do know that these things happen. Babies cry and sometimes moms make the call between a tantrum in the loud diner or going out into the rain. As parents, we sometimes rely on the kindness and empathy of strangers, who know we’re doing the best we can.”

Do you think it is ever ok to yell at someone else’s child?

Want more? Try these… 

Unpopular opinion: There’s nothing wrong with a stranger yelling at your yelling child.

Is it ever okay to discipline someone else’s child?

The 7 reasons why people smack their kids – and why they’re wrong.

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