Tap Dancing on My Nerves

I was very proud of my patience yesterday during a short trip to a local fast food restaurant. My Mom and I walked to the restaurant and got on line behind a father and his 7 year old tap shoe wearing daughter. I could sense immediately that we would hear tapping in our ears for the next 10 minutes. Sure enough, she started tapping away. The father told her to stop but it continued. He had every opportunity to tell her to knock it off, but he did not. She then proceeded to whine and cry that she wanted to leave and acted like a spoiled brat. Normally I would have huffed and puffed and been ready to walk out of the place. But, I concentrated on other things--reading the menu signs and chatting with my Mom. I left feeling calm and not even frazzled. This was a nice change for me! Sometimes, if I just realize that tomorrow the tap shoe incident will be long behind me, I can get through the most annoying of situations. The father was at fault for not putting a stop to it. I don't understand why parents sometimes seem to have an initial understanding that their child may be disruptive(as he did tell her to stop when they first came in) but then seem comfortable just letting it continue. Perhaps it is fear of creating a bigger scene, laziness, or fear that their children will not like them. Whichever it is, the parent is the source of the problem when they do not stop a child's annoying behavior.