Yesterday was my birthday and in our house the birthday boy/girl gets to choose the day's activities. I chose a day trip to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast.

First we stopped at McDonald's for Egg McMuffins and Sausage McMuffins with egg (my favorite), and then headed out to the beach. The weather was a perfect 75 sunny degrees, and the water was actually warm in one particular stretch of coast line.

The beach wasn't very busy even though it was a weekend day, and we found a great spot in the sand to lay out a couple blankets. My wife took some pictures of the kids playing in the water, and I took them out into the surf so they could jump incoming waves.

After a while we all came back to the blankets to rest and drink some water. The kids started digging in the sand near the blanket, while my wife and I relaxed in the warm breeze and the sound of the crashing waves.

This picture perfect moment lasted for all of about 3 minutes. My daughter was upwind and decided to stand up and shake out her sandals, which sent about a half cup of sand right in my face. The other two kids started arguing and fighting over the sand toys, which escalated into a shouting match. In the span of about 15 seconds we went from dreamy bliss to complete chaos!

"Welcome to parenthood" I told myself, reminding myself that this is just normal family life with typical (though unacceptable) behavior for 6 to 10 year old kids. I wouldn't trade it for anything though!

Aside from the sand that I inhaled, it was shaping up to be an almost perfect day - until the very end on the way home, when I saw something I wish I hadn't.

We were about half way home when I started feeling very drowsy, so we pulled over to a gas station off Hwy 26 to get a drink of water from the cooler in the back of the truck. As I pulled over and got out of the truck, I heard another dad (probably drunk or high on something) completely losing his temper with his 5-year-old son, yelling and swearing up a storm at him.

He had reached down and grabbed his son's shoulders with both hands and was yelling "It's absolutely F***ing ridiculous that we have to stop every 30 minutes so you can go to the bathroom"! His wife finally convinced him to let the boy use the facilities, but the man continued to yell "Absolutely F***ing ridiculous!" a few more times while their 5-year-old scurried over to find the bathroom all by himself.

I still wonder what he would have done to that boy if we hadn't of pulled into the same parking lot just then. I made eye contact with the man at one point but didn't say anything to him - I've been in those kinds of situations before and I know he wasn't open to hearing any advice or judgment from me or anyone else. It would probably have escalated the situation even more if I had intervened, although I would definitely have jumped in if he started physically abusing his child.

As he yelled to his wife "I don't CARE if he's only 5 year's old!" I thought to myself - "you SHOULD care, you idiot!" After all, you're the parent... the adult... and it really DOES matter that the boy is only 5 year's old.

Sure, we've all been frustrated when our kids have to go to the bathroom for the 3rd time in the span of an hour (which always seems to happen right after leaving the restaurant, where there was a perfectly good restroom facility just waiting to be used... but no, they have to wait until everyone's packed into the car and we're back on the road)! Sure, that can be frustrating, along with getting sand in your face when they don't consider the affect of their actions, but it's NEVER an excuse for physical or verbal abuse.

We're responsible as parents and adults to take the higher road, exhibit patience, and often times to remind ourselves that the behavior is typical for their age. We're responsible to consider how our words and actions will make our kids feel about themselves too. Think how dejected that little boy must have felt to have his father speak and act like that towards him!

What do you think I should have done in this situation? Have you had a similar experience, and how did you handle it?