"You should be ashamed of yourself!"

[BonBon]

Holy crap, I went to TJ Maxx this afternoon(and spent too much money on adorable clothes for my kid ) and this woman was horribly criticizing her daughter as they walked out of the dressing room.

The girl was a teenager and supercute with a lovely figure. She was carrying a bikini. This is what the mom said: "You look terrible in that!!! You should be ashamed of yourself!" The poor girl was just stricken.

Excuse me for saying this, but WTF is wrong with that woman?!?! How could anyone talk to their child that way? :thud:

[Rapunzel]

Hmmmm.... I can think of several scenarios that could've been taking place but I agree that berating your child in public is just not the right thing to do. If the mom thought the bikini was the wrong decision (for whatever reason: aesthetics, modesty, price, etc.) there were definitely other ways to communicate that without humiliating her daughter.

Jennifer

[SueC]

That does sound mean. I usually try to imagine that the kid and the parent have been butting heads all day when I hear something like that, but there really doesn't seem like there would be a good explanation for saying something that insulting!