I’ve decided that it’s not kids I can’t stand.
It’s the parents of those kids. You know the kind, the ones who don’t watch their kids - - and expect every other adult sitting around to keep an eye on their kid for them.
Screaming kids on airplanes, while parents read their book.
Kids running around like crazed fiends in restaurants, while parents sit seemingly unaware.
Loud kids kicking the back of my chair in a movie theater, while parents are totally engrossed in the film.
If I see that a parent is trying, in earnest, to do something to calm the child down — I’m not going to be uptight. But we were sitting in a Mexican restaurant, having dinner — a group of about 12 adults at one table…their kids - ages in range of about 5 - 12…sat ate the table next to them. The adults were chatting, drinking margaritas and having a nice time while the kids were screaming, fighting, loud and obnoxious, some of them running around the tables in between waiters carrying large trays of hot food.
Whose fault would it be, I ask - if one of the waiters dropped a tray of hot fajitas on one of those kids and the kids sustains a burn? The waiter? The restaurant? The parents who weren’t minding their children’s actions?
Why is it that there are parents out there who just expect the general population to tolerate the unruliness of their children? Why should the rest of the restaurant suffer because these parents didn’t want to keep an eye out for what their kids were doing?
I’m a mother of two kids. I don’t hate kids, by any means. Actually, I like them quite a lot. It’s not the kids that I can’t stand - - it’s the parents of those kids who think that the rest of the world needs to just sit back and tolerate the screaming, fighting, kicking, screaming, animal antics of their uncontrolled children.
Between the ages of 2 and 8 - my son was an absolute monster. I freely admit it. I could not take him anywhere without a temper tantrum of some sort. I had my tricks to calm him down - - but, on occasion - those tricks failed me completely.
I can remember shopping for groceries and leaving my cart, half full - and taking him out of the grocery store because he was so unruly. I couldn’t get him calmed down. I didn’t want all the other adults in the store to have to tolerate my monster child - - so I resigned myself to shopping at another time and only inconvenienced the store clerk who had to deal with my half full shopping cart (I told her on the way out, where it was and apologized for having to leave). I didn’t want to subject the population of that store to my kids tantrum. Maybe I’m just over sensitive that way?
There was another time I can remember when I had taken him to a restaurant (at about the age of 4). He would not calm down and nothing I did was going to calm this child any time soon. Instead of ignoring it and trying to enjoy my meal all the way through - - I asked for a ‘doggie bag’ and took my dinner and my son home…..where he was perfectly calm and quiet while we ate our dinner at home. Of course he couldn’t do that in the restaurant, right? But why subject all those people to the antics of my crazy kid? They’re out - -trying to relax and enjoy their dinner. Who can ignore a screaming kid? I know I can’t.
Really. I adore kids. I just really dislike those kinds of parents, ya know?
Sounds like we’re very similar in this...
7:28 pm on July 5th, 2004
At times I think some parents go out for others to watch their kids so they can enjoy dinner but don’t leave them at home expect those around them to take care of them…..no respect for anyone not even their own children.
8:00 pm on July 5th, 2004
I couldn’t agree more! It drives me nuts to see parents totally ingoring kids acting up in a restaurant or public place like that. It makes me wonder, too, what the kids get away with at home. I think these kind of parents are just too damn lazy to discipline their kids sometimes. Then when the kid is 15 and in trouble with the law, they wonder what went wrong.
2:28 am on July 6th, 2004
Yeah, It’s annoying to everyone. I went to a concert and this lady let her kid scream through 3 songs before people around her started to complain and then they left. It’s rude.
I just hope my kid turns out to be one of the calm ones *_*
6:40 pm on July 6th, 2004
I agree! We have 2 teens and when they were acting up in a movie *when they were little*, one of us took that kiddo out of the theater. There is no respect for others any longer. Kinda sad.
9:33 am on July 7th, 2004
News from around the Blogosphere
This should be a good way to get back into the swing of things. A trip around my blogroll…
DGCI has posted the “Carnival of the Vanities #94″, which exposes alot of little-known hypocrisies, as well as news-you-can-use.
Victoria gives us Gam…
2:04 pm on March 22nd, 2005
I AM SOOOO GLAD THAT THIS SITE, AS WELL AS A FEW OTHERS LIKE IT, IS HERE. I AM COMPLETELY FED THE HELL UP WITH STUPID PARENTS ACTING LIKE IT’S ‘O.K.’ TO LET THEIR KIDS RUN RAMPANT IN STORES, RESTURAUNTS,ETC. WHAT PISSES ME OFF THE MOST IS THAT MANY OF THEM (THE PARENTS) GET OFFENDED IF YOU EXPRESS HAVING A PROBLEM WITH THEIR IDOT KID(S)! IT’S ALMOST LIKE YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S WRONG! WHAT I DO AT TIMES IS TALK ABOUT THE PARENTS LACK OF PARENTING SKILLS…OUT LOUD! I TALK JUST AS FREELY AND IN AS MUCH OF A NORMAL VOICE AS POSSIBLE. I SAY THINGS LIKE…”BOY…THOSE PEOPLE REALLY NEED THEIR ASSES KICKED FOR LETTING THEIR CHILD ACT LIKE THAT”. YOU SHOULD SEE THE LOOKS ON THEIR FACES! THEY TURN BEET-RED AND I LOVE IT!!! THEY CAN IGNORE THEIR CHILD WHEN HE/SHE ACTS UP, BUT THEY SURE SEEM TO PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOU RAG ON THEM. WHAT DOPES!