Why do my thoughts always sound better when Cafferty says them?
Some parents still have this attitude that their kids are too special to be burdened by discipline. And the rest of us are supposed to put up with their little mutants. That attitude really pisses me off.
I hate to break it to them, but the kids aren’t special, and I don’t have to put up with their behavior. If you can’t control your obnoxious little brats, leave them home.
They don’t belong out in public annoying other people, period. I don’t remember a generation of kids ever so indulged and enabled to behave so badly. What’s going on?
I remember as a kid I was expected to behave myself out in public or suffer the wrath of one very angry father. And of all the things that used to piss him off, those expectations didn’t seem unreasonable. Something’s gone terribly wrong here. My guess is it has to do with the breakdown of authority, the collapse of strong family structure, and the abdication of parental responsibility, dictated in part by the necessity that both parents work.
Plus, we have a whole generation of Baby Boomers who are too busy feeling entitled to prolong their own self-indulgent, self-absorbed adolescences to rein in their own kids.
I agree, well said Jack. The lack of disciplined children today is so irritating to me. I am the stay-at-home parent of two girls, age 5 1/2 and 2 1/2. I too, as a child was just EXPECTED to behave in public. There was not even a discussion about it. My sisters and I just knew we’d better behave. And I expect the same from my two children. We rarely ever have a problem with behavior while we’re out. My daughters are so happy to be out, it is a treat to them, because we don’t overindulge them all the time. So they want to behave the best they can so that we’ll treat them again to dinner out or whatever the trip out might be. Also equally annoying is trying to find playmates for my children that behave well. It’s hard to maintain the work I do raising my children when we visit a pal’s house at which standing and jumping on the furniture is ok, along with interrupting adult conversations, talking back to adults, etc are acceptable. My husband and I have these friends that let their kids act like they are in a zoo at home, and then we’ll all go out to dinner or to the mall, and these kids go bizerk, like they are caged animals. It makes no sense to me! I take my children outside everyday, weather-permitting, so they can burn their energy. It is unfair to keep children holed up in the house because you are too lazy to take them outdoors, so you can’t blame them for acting like lunatics, blame their parents! Along with people thinking their kids are too special for discipline I believe that lazy and inattentive parenting skills are to blame. I may be a little of a control freak, but these children are MY responsibility and their behavior is a direct reflection of me!
Thank you! Your children sound like ones I wouldn’t throw a fit over encountering in public. However, sadly, its always the crying, screaming, obnoxious brats that draw attention to themselves and their parents that we remember and that mar my outings.