This annoys me SO much!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14136994/

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This story turns my tummy !! Im with you im proud to be a breeder too . Comparing children to cigarettes !! some ppl have the nerve.

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Charlton, says too many parents act as if the earth revolves around their children, and the general public should treat them as such. Yet kids are more out of control than ever.


Sorry but I kind of agree with this. Some kids don't know how to act in public. Thats the parents fault. They give in to them to easy because its just easier.

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Mary

I agree... kids DO need manners. Some more than others... but to stero type all kids is the thing that gets me....IMO

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I think this is really sad. I know that i feel this way out in public a lot. My DH is the exec. chef at a nice restaurant and we go out to eat there often...sometimes I feel like if my DD (18 months) shrieks or makes too much noise, then we are given dirty looks. However, they accomodate children with kids menus and crayons and high chairs - this is what I deem as child friendly.

The thing is - You shouldn't have to stay locked up in your house or be worried about going to your favorite place because children are sometimes unruly. It is simply not possible to predict your children's behavior at all times. My DD is a great kid but very strong willed. If she's the slightest bit tired, and wants to go one direction - if you pull her in the other she gets upset. This is normal toddler behavior, children are meant to be heard - not just seen. Our society has encouraged parents to listen to their children's behavior, yet in public this isn't ok?

You child is not a dog, and at a young age they don't understand the difference between socially accpetable behavior. Putting that type of responsibility on our children is unfair.

One thing the article does get right is that there is a time and place for children to be toted along - during a movie or a fine dining establishment, probably not but going out to eat at a neighborhood restaurant, or to the grocery store, or in the children's section of a bookstore- these are reasonable places to see kids. Parent's should take responsbility for their kids, but making public establishments "no children allowed" is disrespectful and discriminatory.

[quote=Maryfs]Charlton, says too many parents act as if the earth revolves around their children, and the general public should treat them as such. Yet kids are more out of control than ever.


Sorry but I kind of agree with this. Some kids don't know how to act in public. Thats the parents fault. They give in to them to easy because its just easier.[/QUOT

I agree also about the parents. I've been to restaurants that parents have let their children walk on the booth cushions like they were walking on the floor. Let them climb up in public places where it's obvious that they shouldn't be allowed to. I agree it's much easier to give in but who said parenting was supposed to be easy? My ds isn't perfect but when he's loud I remove him from the situation so no one has to listen to him, I know I wouldn't want to. And...I might go up in the flames for this...but when dh and I are on one of our rare child free nights at a Nice restaurant...I so wish sometimes I didn't have to listen to a screaming child next to me!

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And...I might go up in the flames for this...but when dh and I are on one of our rare child free nights at a Nice restaurant...I so wish sometimes I didn't have to listen to a screaming child next to me![/quote]


I totally agree.

BUT, in a country that screams discrimination for every imaginable racial, sexual, class(less), group anyone could ever think up, this is just pittiful. Our entire culture feels anti-child to me.

If you don't believe me, have more than 2, go in public, and see how people react. "I feel sorry for you!" "Better you than me!" Yeah, your right.

I too am proud to be a "breeder"

However, I agree that all kids shouldn't be taken all places~ but as said before THIS IS NOT THE KIDS FAULT!!! I don't think that banning kids from places is the right answer.....teaching parents how to parent ....now that should be looked into .

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Shouldn't come to anyone's surprise, but I agree 100% with the article. And FWIW, I think if you take offense to this, you're part of the problem.

Time was when children were taught to behave. When they were rude, loud, and inappropriate, they were publicly reprimanded and taught a sense of shame. Time was also when there was respect for others and a respect for things that didn't belong to you.

I can go anywhere -- ANYWHERE -- and see examples of wonderfully parented children who behave properly. All ages. No, they aren't dolls. And they aren't perfect. But they behave. I can turn right around in place and get examples of kids who were my #1 reason for not wanting to procreate.

The problem, as the article stated very clearly for anyone who cared to read, is the parents. Not wanting to squoosh their "self-esteem." Wanting to be their "friend." Not wanting to behave properly themselves.

I waited tables for eight years. I've been tripped up by more urchins left to run amok than I care to think about. I've cleaned up more messes left by parents who thought it perfectly ok to let Junior destroy all the sugar packets, dump his dinner on the floor, and draw with the ketchup. To that end, I've also had more dinners ruined by screaming, wild children; more shopping trips disrupted by kids and parents who've left entire sections of stores trashed beyond repair, and more examples of distasteful humanity than I ever want to remember.

My daughter pointed to a screamer in a local restaurant not too long ago and said very clearly, "Mommy, dat boy is bein' a bwat." Yes, he is, dear. Yes, he is.

Is my child perfect? Not just no, but HELL no. I have to repeatedly tell her not to touch things in stores. I fight the battle of "yes, you ARE riding in the cart." And I've gotten up from several dinner tables and carted Little Miss Whiny out to the parking lot. She's learned her lesson, and I've learned that certain times are better for dining/shopping/visiting than others.

Hello? Adults? It's NOT ALL ABOUT YOU anymore. You know, like y'all were telling me over in the "bored to death" thread. You've got to make adjustments.

I won't be dining at 219, Magnolia, or any of the other swank restaurants downtown as I used to, for quite some time. I'll get over it. I won't be attending symphony concerts as I used to, for quite some time. It'll wait. I won't be shopping in the style I used to, taking my time and trying on lots of stuff until it's perfect. Hell, I've even gotten so I schedule my hair appointments on certain days at certain times, so that someone isn't complaining about boredom and getting underfoot.

Private merchants putting down their foot about ill-behaved children and the parents who are too self-centered to care are not evil. In fact, they are more customer-centered than you may care to admit, because they are dedicated to preserving a certain environment for ALL of their patrons. I'm way more likely to patronize such an establishment.

And damn it, if I'm paying $24 for a steak or $3.50 for a waffle, I'm going to eat it in peace. Take your kid outside.

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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-- H. L. Mencken

I think it is true that some parents let their kids run amok in public. there is a limit. I take my kids grocery shopping, to the mall, to the diner, but they are to act well. meaning sit in the grocer cart and not run up and down the ailes screaming! they are to play at the table in the diner quietly and not run around the whole diner!. There are ways to keep children quiet in airplanes, they dont have to run up and down the plane. I think that is the parents not teaching them properly.
My DS threw a tnatrum in the diner once (egg was not cut!) well I picked him up and left the diner, DH got goody bags and paid and we went home. He never did it again, but I did not subject the other diners to his screaming and we left..

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We buy things we dont need,
with money we dont have,
in order to impress people
we dont like?
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