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Reality check on aisle 5!
Jun. 21st, 2008 09:10 pmAs a followup to my previous post... a lot of the discussion on that post has been revolving around parents who don't. (Parent, that is.) This drives me about as far up a tree as the child-free folks who think that kids should be locked up in the house and never seen do. Allow me to give you two examples of women I know.
There's dual responsibility here... Parents have a responsibility to teach their kids appropriate ways to behave in public, to supervise them and correct their behavior when necessary, and to choose appropriate places to take their child (the mall, big loud chain restaurants - there's a reason we only ever eat out at diners, Chili's, our fave wings joint, etc.) . Those who have chosen for whatever reason not to kids have a responsibility to accept that kids can't be locked up until the age of 18. If you don't want to deal with kids, be selective - frequent the movie theaters that marajade648 mentioned, do as kass_rants did and request to be seated in a quiet place (and hope that the hostess remembers that request when seating later parties).
Mom #1. Mom #1 works at our gym/pool and has 3 daughters. The youngest of these girls is a year older than TRex - so almost 5 (or maybe she's already five - she will definitely be in kindergarten this fall). For the past TWO YEARS I have been seeing her girls running all over the pool (both indoor and outdoor), completely unsupervised. Yes, you read that right. She let her THREE YEAR OLD in the swimming pool unsupervised. Adn they are troublemakers - the older ones figure they own the joint. I have actually heard them say, "Oh, I don't have to follow the rules. My mom works here."These are two of my biggest negative examples - I have many others. And heaven help me, I am counting on all of you to smack me if I am ever ANYWHERE NEAR THAT BAD when it comes to my child. Sometimes I feel like I'm hovering too much ... and then I remember the alternative.
Mom #2. Also a member at our gym/pool, also has 3 kids - the middle one of whom has Down's Syndrome. Guess who else is allowed to run all over the place - yes, including the pool - without any supervision? Yup, you got that right. The six-year-old developmentally delayed kid. (The other two, too, but... well, I'm more concerned about what might happen to D.) There was a carnival at the gym several weeks ago and I saw him wander off several times while she was busy chatting up the rec. staff. (M took one look at her and started whistling "Mrs. Robinson" under his breath.) There was a period of about 45 minutes when he was in the bounce house and the staff could not get him to come out. He was just sitting there, ignoring/not understanding them. And where was mom? Nowhere to be found! At a previous carnival, it was pretty much the same thing, except he was sitting in the bounce house crying. Again, for like 30 to 45 minutes.
There's dual responsibility here... Parents have a responsibility to teach their kids appropriate ways to behave in public, to supervise them and correct their behavior when necessary, and to choose appropriate places to take their child (the mall, big loud chain restaurants - there's a reason we only ever eat out at diners, Chili's, our fave wings joint, etc.) . Those who have chosen for whatever reason not to kids have a responsibility to accept that kids can't be locked up until the age of 18. If you don't want to deal with kids, be selective - frequent the movie theaters that marajade648 mentioned, do as kass_rants did and request to be seated in a quiet place (and hope that the hostess remembers that request when seating later parties).
