Parents

You know at times I want to pity some parents; then again, I want to pity some kids.
The other day I had to go to Builders Square for some equipment as I was there, two little boys were throwing a fit to go home. Granted Builders Square isn’t the most fun place to be but I noticed the Dad totally ignored them whimpering and whining the whole time. Eventually it began to get extreme when one of the little chaps decided to sit in the floor and carry on.
I’m not going into full detail what I’d have done to that kid but you can imagine; in fact a few people were relieved when they finally walked out of the store. If that were me or one of my brothers, we wouldn’t have been able to sit very comfortably for a while and really hated the site of two joining walls where our noses would have been firmly planted for a long, long while.
I know that parents mainly have their hands tied when they are out in public. Every time I think of punishment in a public area I think of child welfare coming down on my head for abuse.
My PG always said to “Keep it at home” in other words; if you do something out of line expect the wrath to come on you the minute you step in the house. If I did something wrong I paid for it in a big way. My grandparents made us work in the garden; my Mom was a believer of putting you in a corner, my Pops believed in the belt. I think chores are a good punishment, I can remember being pointed to the garden many times. Luke rarely felt my Pops belt but many a day he had to cut the grass or pick up the yard. Jacks would freak if he was sent to the corner.
So many parents give out that empty threat “wait till we are home” and the kids know it. “Oh, I forgot about it” or the ever popular “Well, they were so good at the time”. I would be good after being a brat if I knew it would get me out of a long corner standing.
The hard part of it all is that the parents don’t see that slighting their children with the results of being bad only hurts the kids. If Jimmy sees that he can race all over Wal-Mart and knock over the items without any repercussions, later in life Jimmy will think its ok to knock over Wal-Mart and walk out with their money.
I guess all this stems from a conversation this morning where one of the Moms came in late to work because her child refused to go to kindergarten class. In fact she stated “No mommy, I wont be going” which lead to an all out battle for the two of them. I asked if anything would happen when she got home and the Mom said “no, what can I do?” Well by all means get a good chuckle out of it and carry on! See you in about 5 years pulling your hair out trying to get the little brat to school and you ending up in jail for child neglect.
At least talk to the kid and explain to them in simple terms why they need to go to school or why its not cool to whimper and carry on in the store. Looking away and pretending they aren’t yours isn’t helping the situation.