Disconcerting

I took the kids to the store today. I normally don't that because it is hard to deal with both of them by myself. We needed an outing though and Mariska has done fairly well the last couple trips the store. Jack was sitting in the front seat of the cart and Riska was riding on the end. She has this bad habit of jumping off and on the cart. I asked her twice to stop and just as the words were coming out of my mouth the second time she fell and I almost ran over her leg with the cart. Then the tears started to flow. I explained to her that this was the exact reason I didn't like her playing on the cart like that. I told her she had lost her privilege of walking and had to sit in the cart for the rest of the trip. This started more than tears it started full on yelling and the beginnings of a tantrum. I know I am not the first one to have kids that do this but it throws me every time it happens. This was the first time it happened without John being there. I thought I was getting a handle on it by telling her that if she didn't stop we would leave and go home and I would come back after John got home from work. Then some creep came up to us and, I kid you not, said this, "You better do what your mommy says little girl or I can take you. Do you want to come with me?"
I wish that my brain had been working better at the time because I have come up with a lot of things to say to him but my main concern at the moment was Mariska. I grabbed her face and told her to look at me and ignore the man. As he is walking away he says "It's no problem my daughter is in the next aisle and she always acts like this."
Who in there right mind does that? John said I did the right thing but I am not so sure. I have things planned out to say when I hear of things like this happening to other people and then it happens and my mind goes blank. In my defense I was worried about getting my kids away from him and the situation.

Books and Songs

To help encourage good behavior at home I had to come up with something a little different for Mariska. Very few things phase her. Timeouts do not work and taking toys away doesn't seem to work either. One of the only things that really works is to take away books we read and songs we sing during our bedtime routine. She loves to read books and sing songs. So to help track it I made this poster.
The little girl at the top is Riska.
There is a piece of Velcro on each book and on each music note. The red packets at the bottom store the books and notes when they are not being used. I am working on her name to go in the blank spot at the bottom of the poster.
Riska starts with two books and two songs everyday with plenty of opportunities to earn more but when bad decisions are made we also take them away. So far it has been doing wonders for her.
Thank you Gail for letting me use your awesome Cricket. Made this so much easier than it would have been. You are the best.