hubby and i were at the eyeglass place last night where i was having my new eyeglasses adjusted. in comes a couple, mid to late 30s i would say with their two children. one, a girl, about 4 years old, in a stroller, and the other, a little boy, about 8. the little boy was tearing around the store in those sneakers with wheels in the heels that allowed him to skate. i’ve seen kids wearing these but he must have had heavy duty ones because he was really moving and the sound from the skate/sneakers was pretty loud. at the same time, the little girl was pushing her stroller around the store from the front of it, making it move backwards. both parents were completely oblivious to what their children were doing.
one of the store employees told the father there cannot be any skating in the store and would he please tell his child to stop. he did so, but the child paid absolutely no attention and continued to skate wildly around the store. after another few minutes, the employee said to the child, sweetheart, you cannot skate in the store, or something to that effect. the father, who was trying on glasses, proceeded to glare at the employee and then said, i told him already. don’t tell my child what to do. the employee responded, well, he’s still skating around. to which the father replied that he had spoken to his son. the employee responded with he obviously isn’t listening because he is continuing to skate in the store. the employee then went back to her work.
my husband and i saw the entire exchange. as a matter of fact, we noted right away the parent’s disinterest as soon as they came into the store. this was not an isolated incident. so often we see parents turn a blind eye to their children’s bad behavior, leaving the discipline up to employees of whatever establishment they happen to be in. they take no responsibility for any property damage these children inflict and if anyone dares to speak up, the parent’s get an attitude.
am i the only person that finds this apalling? what happened to manners? to parents paying attention to their children and actually parenting them? too often i see parents trying to be friends with their children, instead of parents. parenting is not just about having fun and being friends with your kids. it is about making the hard choices and decisions and, yes, i’m going to say it, disciplining your children when necessary. if children have no boundaries they have no respect. for their parents, anyone else, or the property of others. i am sick and tired of seeing ill mannered children running around public places having temper tantrums and all manner of shenanigans.
i would like for you to weigh in. i can’t be the only one that finds this a growing issue. what do you think?
if the unruly behaviour of kids remains unchecked by the parents, how will they learn to cope with rules when they become adults? in this instance, it sounds as if the kids rule their parents.
bring back the leash for children, i say!
i agree. it doesn’t seem to be popular, to discipline one’s children, but, as you say, once they become adults, what happens then?
welcome to my blog, btw. and thank you for your comment.
I agree with everyone’s comments. I hate to see how this world is coming to an end. Parents are not parents anymore, but have no problem bringing children into the world where they are allowed to do anything they want! The children of these years have no respect for anybody, parents or otherwise; parents seem to think that their child should be disciplined by teachers, police officers, etc. One day I was in the drug store looking at some products and I heard a mother tell her son, “I can’t wait til you go back to school so they could teach you some manners!” I was so shocked when I heard that. I thought that you were supposed to learn that at home! I just don’t know what’s going on in the world these days. sigh…. just my opinion. I send prayers to everyone in the world.
SoulCreator
i agree with you. so many people don’t want to take responsibility for their children, but are quick to jump on everyone else if they dare say something. shame.
I have had to discipline Alex a couple of times in a store. It is hard to get a 1 1/2 year old to listen, but I have yelled and disciplined him. And then I got the dirty looks as if I was a madwoman. It made me so mad . . .
It’s awful. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. But good for you, Elisabetta! You are doing the right thing. Alex is going to grow up to be a respectful and well mannered man. Plus, he’s just adorable, lol.
oh man, if those were my kids i would have been so embarrassed if the store employee had to reprimand them because they hadn’t listened to me. i don’t think (at least i hope not) that i would have responded similarly. right now my baby/toddler runs around trying to get into places he shouldn’t and i guide him away from places that are off-limits and as last resort put him in the stroller when he will not listen to me. i pay close attention and give him a few warnings first to give him a chance to do the right thing. he may fuss but it is important he understand limits, as i do allow him some reasonable freedoms understanding that he is growing and curious. however, i think that word “limits” or “boundaries” must be foreign to those parents in the store.
i agree. boundaries seems to me to have become a dirty word in this society and that’s a shame.