I'm not a particularly nosey or condescending person--except when it comes to the driving skills displayed by some--but I guess because I'm an expectant father, I've begun to notice more the examples of parenting around me. Now I'll say right upfront that I am not an expert on the subject, and ultimately it is none of my business, but what I see sometimes is downright appalling.
It has taken painstaking effort for me to hold my tongue in these instances, and so I come to my blog to vent a little about what I have observed and shed some light on these "fine" examples of parenting:
Recently during a trip to get groceries, I observed a young boy who had to be around 4 or 5 years old sitting in the shopping cart bawling and hollering about cookies. His tantrum is loud and relentless, but the father pushing the cart not only ignores his pleas, he exacerbates the issue. He proceeds to playfully taunt the boy by offering up every cracker and wheat thin in the isle as if he fails to understand the boy's desire for cookies. Nice, you're a real comedy act pal. Except you're the only one in the entire store who thinks that's funny.
Father of the year number two is the guy I came across at a comic book store. He draws attention to himself first off by struggling to maneuver his baby stroller through the front door. After a lot of banging and thumping (which the baby I'm sure appreciates) he finally makes his way in and shoves the stroller off to one side while he steps over a good ten feet away so he can start perusing a display case. The stroller, which is clearly unattended while dad goes about his business, has a blanket covered over it so I can't confirm there is a child inside. But why would anyone go through such a hassle to enter a store with an empty stroller?
And last but not least, is a father I saw at Chipolte the other day. First of all he's got a cellphone glued to his ear while parking his honking SUV and blocking incoming traffic behind him. Then I see him walk in with his curious 2 year old boy by his side. The whole time the guy is going through the line ordering his food, and then plopping down to have lunch, the phone never leaves the side of his face. Meanwhile, the little boy is bumping into other customers and eventually slips off to the back patio to explore. His father does have the presence of mind to get up and reign the boy in, but still the phone is more attached to him than the child. I don't care how important the call is, you're with your kid, spend some time with him for heaven's sake!!
Okay, venting is done.
My overall point is, if you don't have the time, think it's such a hassle, an inconvenience, or a source of amusement, you're not ready to be a parent.
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That's the problem though - a lot of the "bad" parents we witness are just people who ended up in a situation they weren't prepared for. Parenting can be hard, not every last minute will be golden or mistake-free.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there sure are a lot of ay-holes out there doing unspeakable things to their kids. I'm so glad (a thousand times over) that you aren't going to be one of them. Thanks for being one of the good guys.