I WANT THAT TOY!!!!

Okay, so we're in the store (Ross) and Joshua sees a toy that he HAS to have.  He asks if we can buy it, and I say no.  So, then he begins to bargain with me:

"Mommy, if you buy it, I will poop in the potty and earn it."  "Joshua, last time we did that, you never pooped in the potty again after you had earned it.  Sorry.  We are not buying that toy today." 

And that's when it happened.  The UGLIEST, LOUDEST, MOST EMBARRASSING temper tantrum that you have ever witnessed--guaranteed!  And, as loud and humiliating as it was, that's not the part of the story that made me angry.  I can handle tantrums, yes they're embarrassing, and yes I do not enjoy them, but I can handle them.  Sometimes I can even handle them with grace.  My usual response is to ignore the tantrum and make my exit as soon as I can, then once we are away from public criticism, I will put the child in timeout and we will discuss the inappropriate behavior.  What I will NOT do, EVER, is give in to the tantrum and get the child what he wants when he cries for it.  So now on to the part of the story that angers me.

As I am trying to make my way to the cashier to pay for the items I had selected prior to the outburst, this woman (late 50's probably) approaches me.  In an effort to send her away politely, I said, "Oh life as a two year old is difficult.  He wanted me to buy him a certain toy and I told him no.  Just ignore him."  Well, she definitely did not ignore him.  Instead, she starts to stroke his face (who are you?  Please don't touch my child's face.).  Then, and this is the kicker, she says to him, "you want that toy.  Okay, stop crying and mommy will buy it for you."  WHAT???!!!  Am I missing something here?!  Last time I checked, I was the one who went through a 28 hour labor for him, and I was the one who spent 4 of those hours pushing him out--last I checked, I was his mother!  Who are you?!  Naturally, Joshua stopped crying when she said this to him and he looked at me.  Well, I wasn't going to give in, "Sorry Joshua, you are not getting that toy.  Please do not ask me again."  Shoes were thrown, bones left his body, arms went up dramatically in the air, and the crying began again on a whole new level.  Now I am seething in my thoughts, maybe a few choice words entered my mind momentarily as I shifted my gaze toward that woman, who was still stroking his face.  Again she said, "Stop crying, I am sure that when you stop crying this time, your mommy will take you back to the toy section and let you have your toy.  She will buy it for you if you stop crying."  WHAT?!  STUPID LADY!  PLEASE GO AWAY!  PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OVERSTEP MY PARENTING AGAIN!!!! 

To make a long story short, I repeated that we were not buying the toy and I pushed my cart around that lady (I wanted to mow her down with it, but refrained).  Somehow we were able to get out of the store without me crying or punching that woman, when I felt like doing both.  Beware, some people just don't know when to go away.