Kids trashing your dispensary

[ripper]

Does anybody know if stun guns are legal to use in your dispensary on unruly children, usually the mother is taking an hour trying on colored contacts while their hyper kids are trashing your dispensary.

[Jacqui]

Used to duct tape them to a chair (cop told me to do that)

[drk]

I have a video game set up in a kid's corner. Whatever you have to spend, it's worth it.

[harry a saake]

I politely tell the parents that they need to sit there kids down when they start running around and trashing the place. Most of them do, on occasion one will get mad and leave.

[Texas Ranger]

We used to have a sign in the reception area that stated "Unattended children will be sold as slaves.!!" Certainly a joke, with the implication and expectation that folks should keep control of their children...until one day I had this young african american lady come in who was going to have the NAACP do a protest march for the local news media out front of my "racist' shop. so I took it down...some folks sensitivities?

[Specs]

Being in Florida, we have ceiling fans. We use wrist loops and put the "good" children on the low speed. If they mouth off or cause any other kind of disturbance the speed can be raised, medium to high for the real tough ones accordingly.
Anything to help.

[PAkev]

As a father of a 5,3,& 1 1/2, yr old, I will share my take on things:

Parents often tend to become tolerant of what becomes annoying to other folks. These are usually the same people that tend to get upset when someone else yells at their kids which subconciuosly conveys the idea that they are failing at their parenting responsibilities.

However, although the childrens mother, father, grandmother, etc. may be the one purchasing new eyewear, it is your responsibility to make it a positive experience for EVERYONE.

One sure way for kids to turn your dispensary up side down is to ignore them and their interests. Banks have realized that a simple lolipop is all the motivation it takes for a kid to enable mom or dad to execute a teller transaction.

A hard eyewear case with a few old frame patterns can be very amusing to a 1 or 2 yr old.

Video Tapes with cartoons work very well with preschool aged children.

Older Kids like to know they are helping and can be given a few old bent up frames to straighten out while mom is picking out her new frames and lenses.


Take a kid fishing
<))><
Kevin

[optigoddess]

We like to use the "magic mirror" ... (polarized mirror) ... hand them several lens samples and have them find the "magic" one ...


Crayons and paper is always good, too!

Karen

[harry888]

I've got a kids corner with a lego table. Very sturdy, had it over 10 years. Rarely have kids strayed from that table.

This table is not an original idea of mine. I used to work in a Pearle which sometimes had kid problems, regional manager got the lego tables for all stores. Problem solved, the difference amazed me.

Harry

[Cowboy]

I believe Pakev to be right on. However, when that does not work, I do beleive that we do have the right to step in and atempt to control the situation. I never overstep my boundaries by either not asking the parent or involving the parent in the control process. I have a Boutique shop and with some pretty expensive displays, getting the parent to understand the cost of such usually gets things under control quickly. When that does not work, we involve the child in the selection process, making them feel wanted, appreciated, and attented to - therefore, the attention grabbing behavior is avoided. When all else fails, have mom/dad return when more convenient to do so. If they choose not to return, then it becomes the next guys problem and you have potentially saved some money in undamaged product(s)!!

:cheers:

Cowboy

[hip chic]

Thankfully, the space I lease is HUGE. The dispensary is about 1500 square feet out of 2400. One of my extra rooms is a childrens room. Friends have donated old puzzles and books and toddler toys. I have a small slide and a jungle gym. This has been wonderful in my shop...my shop filled with expensive eyewear shown in kid height drawers.

Parents tell me their kids love coming here. The problem comes when it's time to leave. If I see a parent having a real hard time pulling their child away, I'll offer a small toy out of a basket in the childrens room. The basket is filled with McDonalds happy meals toys...I have a ton....the kid is happy....the parent is happy...that makes me happy.

hip chic

I've found that it means a lot to parents when you do for their kids....well...it's understandable. It always meant alot to me when businesses thought about my children by supplying activities for them.

[drk]

Hip chick, you are still so hip!

I like the kid's playground idea, but aren't you scared someone is going to bang their head and sue you? Or a 9-yo boy with a 4 yo girl, whatever?

[ripper]

My wife is good at balloon animals for the kids, they like that until one pops, i told her not to make balloon swords, because of the ensuing sword fight!