Diner owner yells at screaming 2-year-old, gets served up scorn and praise

WATCH ABOVE: Darla Neugebauer says the child was crying for about an hour and she had had enough. Peter Kim reports.

TORONTO — Marcy’s Diner in Portland, Maine is now famous for more than just its food after owner Darla Neugebauer was pushed to her limit by a screaming child on Saturday.

“I slammed my hands on the counter and said, ‘This needs to stop!’ And she looked at me, and she stopped,” she said, speaking of the young girl who she says was crying for almost an hour in her restaurant.

“Her parent said, ‘Are you screaming at my child,’ and I said yes, and she shut up.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Her parent said, 'Are you screaming at my child,' and I said yes, and she shut up."

The reaction was predictably swift and negative at first. Parents and the public picked up their digital pitchforks and mobbed the diner’s Facebook page with negative comments.

Twitter users also reacted strongly to the incident.

But not all the comments about the diner on social media have left a sour taste. Many of the most recent posts praise Neugebauer for her gutsy candor.

But parenting experts and those who work with kids caution about taking parenting of another child into your own hands.

“I think the best way to handle this would be to step in and just ask the parent if they need help with addressing their child’s behaviour — if there’s anything that they can do to help out,” said Olivia Caravaggio, program director at Gerrard Resource Centre.

Emily Pengelly is the co-owner of Sprouts, a play space for children. She adds that there must be a “delicate balance” when approaching another child.

“I’m a mom of a three-year-old and my kid has fits too, and I would hate to be thrown out of anywhere; but there has to be a point and time when you realize that you can’t let your child scream.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm a mom of a three-year-old and my kid has fits too, and I would hate to be thrown out of anywhere; but there has to be a point and time when you realize that you can't let your child scream."

Grandmother Gillian Simpson admits she would feel disgusted if someone yelled at her grandson or granddaughter, but she doesn’t blame Neugebauer for trying to stop the crying.

“She could have found a different way.”

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Though Neugebauer faced an initial wave of criticism, she isn’t really drowning in regret: “Life is full of choices, and you have to live with all of them,” she said.

“I chose to yell at the kid and it made her shut up, which made me happy, it made my staff happy.”