Mom defends her 11-year-old with special needs from a spoiled 3-year-old and her entitled dad who demand to pet their service dog, teaches him a lesson in parenting: ‘My nice had left’

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  • "Petty, yes I can be petty AITBH?"

    A little back story. I (45f) am the mother of a (24f) special needs child. She has multiple medical needs and the assistance of a service dog has helped tremendously. About 13ish years ago, just after getting her first service dog (SD), we were at Sam's Club shopping. It's already a monumental task to push her wheelchair, keep an eye on her,
  • monitor her SD, pull a cart and get the items we need. I have shopped this way so long, the only new element is her service dog, and I could get overwhelmed at times. I always tried to keep a kind demeanor because that's how I would want to be treated. At the time, service dogs were not seen in our area, so we often had request to pet him. That day
  • we had been out for a while and not only had tons of requests, but also had people just walk up and start petting him, making kissing noises even barking at him. I was at my limit for kindness. Normally, I would kindly explain that he was working and outside interaction could distract him from his job. He LOVED everyone and enjoyed the
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  • attention. With all of that in mind, we encountered our first "Kevin" after getting SD. A man was pushing a cart with an approximately 3-4 yr old little. girl (we'll call her LK for little Kevin, ) in it. It's obvious LK has never heard the word "no" because I had observed her yelling for multiple items and
  • Kevin complying like her own magic genie. She spotted SD and started to yell "A PUPPY!! WANNA PET THE PUPPY", over and over, getting impossibly louder each time she said it. I ignored her hoping her father would explain that she couldn't since I absolutely hate confrontation. (I am generally easy going and it really takes a lot before I get mad.) What
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  • happed next was a combination of a long frustrating day, me hitting my limit of being kind and my child being upset causing her to have more seizures than normal. Instead of telling her no, he helped her out of the cart and they walked up, without asking (we even had a huge patch on his vest that said NO PETTING) and she
  • tried to pet SD. I moved so that I was in front of him to block them and nicely said "I'm so sorry sweet, he's working right now and you can't pet him." The father then tried to direct LK around me to reach SD saying "it's just for a second, it won't hurt anyone, if you bring a dog in places you have to let people pet it. You can't just tell us no." I pivoted and more
  • firmly said "No, he's working and you CAN NOT pet him, please leave us alone." LK starts whining and pitching a fit "I WANNA PET THE PUPPY!!" Over and over (no doubt her favorite new mantra). I tried to turn and leave (not easy with a wheelchair, basket and SD while blocking them from SD).
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  • Kevin started getting angry saying "she wants to pet the dog, just let her, you can't tell her no." I simply say "watch me,no" and try to leave. He started to get into my space aggressively bowing up like a rooster, attempting to intimidate me. I then raised my voice telling him to "BACK OFF! I said no, leave us alone."
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  • At that point my daughter started having small seizures and getting more and more agitated (she has a seizures daily but stress can trigger more, potentially putting her life at risk). SD is trying to do his job but Kevin and mini LK are causing issues blocking him. After a stare down that seemed to last hours, it was maybe 30 seconds, Kevin huffs
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  • "FINE!" And stomped away dragging LK with him. He then loudly (almost a yell but not quite) tells LK "I know that lady is a (female dog). She's being mean and if she has a dog you should be able to pet it." All the while LK is pitching a fit loud enough for people in the parking lot to hear screaming "I WANNA PET THE PUPPY!" As
  • Kevin spouts off more nasty comments, I snapped. My nice had left and my generally dormant mean streak appeared. I proceeded to follow them around the store (I had been almost done shopping but decided we might need something else)
  • causing LK to continue screaming each time she saw us and Kevin to continue verbally bashing me with a colorful string of four and five letter words. I spent an additional 20-30 minutes "shopping" until Kevin gave up, took LK and left without purchasing anything. This gave me great satisfaction at the time but I later felt a tiny bit
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  • guilty. I know I could have handled things better, but Kevin also needed to tell LK no and teach her she can't have everything she wants. Am I the ?

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