Image via WikipediaYou know that scene in Harold and Kumar go to Whitecastle where Kumar is peeing on that bush? And he is alone in the woods until, suddenly, there is another guy who chooses to pee on the same bush…of all the bushes in the woods, he sidles right up to Kumar and lets fly. You know that scene? Well folks, that has become my life.
It seems that everywhere we go, some kid sidles up beside us. The parents are nowhere to be found (or in one case, she was there but not really there.)
Example #1 – I’m at this horrendous place called “Coffee and Scream” wherein the moms can have coffee and the kids can play in the play area. The moms seem to feel that they can dump their kids in the play area and then close their eyes while they drink coffee. It was sheer madness in there. Then, one woman puts her 5 month old (he was just learning to roll) on the ground next to where a friend and I were playing with our kids and takes off to the bathroom with her three year old. Not a word to us. No, hey can you watch my baby, or would you mind just for a sec, or I’ll be right back. She Just Left. To another room, BEHIND A DOOR.
Example #2 - Hubby and I take little H to a swimming pool. The place is empty because it’s a Thursday afternoon. There was us and a guy with his toddler. Out of nowhere this 10 year old girl swims up. She’s nice and she just wants to play with little H but, um. Parents are required to swim with their kids. Kids aren’t allowed to swim alone. Did the mom just tell her to swim with us so the lifeguards would think she was ours?? No matter where we went this poor little girl followed. I felt so sad for her.
Example #3 – It was a rare occasion where little H was happy in her stroller, eating cheerios and watching passers by. I decided that I needed a latte fix so we pop into Starbucks. I order and little H is still happy so I decide to grab a table and actually enjoy my drink from a seated position. A three year old terror in pigtails arrives at our table. She’s grabbing little H’s sippy cup. She’s taunting her with keys (what three year old has free access to keys?) She’s touching Little H’s hands, face, hair. I’m looking at the mom with that, get your damn kid out of here look on my face. The mom sees me, but the barrista is calling her drink and she’s fumbling with the lid and how on earth can she tear herself away from a coffee in order to deal with her kid?
What the hell is going on? If you’re out in public, keep control of your kids. Keep them in sight. Keep them from assaulting other children. If your drink is ready, you get your lulu lemon’d ass over to your kid BEFORE you deal with your coffee. When little H is older you can bet your ass I wont expect other people to parent her just because she is within their general area.
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Wonder what would have happened if you had moved the baby and then said “What baby?” when she returned from the bathroom.
Taht’s very sad. I used to see this a lot when Josh was little. We’d take him to the video arcade and I’d be there with him, but fifty kids without any supervision would be running around like mad. Half the time I’d get asked for quarters as the only adult there.
You are so right! It is crazy and very, very sad. If I ever behaved that way when I was little I would have been in big trouble. I think kids are running the show nowadays. I know they think they run the show in my classroom.
My wife was just wondering the same thing today. Some mom was letting her 18 month old waddle about among a group of 10 year olds playing freeze tag on a playground. This same toddler kept assaulting my son and the mom couldn’t care less. Why don’t parents watch their kids anymore? I expect a grim future for society if parents don’t get their act together.
Meno – It would’ve served her right that’s for sure.
Charles – So, where do they go? A bar down the street? I just don’t get it.
Danielle – Why is this? I don’t get it.
Surf – yup, verry grim indeed.
Hey, I got one for ya! At Chuck E Cheese, a little boy followed my husband into the bathroom. So DJ took him out to find his mom, who was on the other side of the room playing a game. She didn’t even look up from her game when he asked “is this your son”? and she got an attitude with him. She even said “you think I’m a bad mom because I’m black!” to which he answered, “No, I think you’re a bad mom because you didn’t know where your son was.”
OK, I’m hopping off your soapbox now.
Now you’ve got me all riled up!
This kind of thing happens every single week at my daughters’ gymnastics lessons. Siblings are stuck there while their brothers or sisters are in class, and they go nuts, running around, climbing on the bleachers, jumping down, crawling under them and over top of adults. The parents just sit there and chat or talk on their cell phones or look at their laptops. They never even see the kids.
The viewing area is upstairs and is bordered by a glass railing which kids are always grabbing the top of and trying to clamber up. I’ve tried to ignore it, but honestly, I couldn’t live with myself if some four year old went over and fell and got hurt (or worse), so more than once I’ve had to tell a child not to do that. People act like it’s a burden to have to parent their own children and I just want to shake them and ask why they even had kids in the first place.
You’ve definitely hit a nerve, Heather. Great topic.
What the hell? I have long said that parents in general don’t keep watch on their kids well enough. We are in the minority, those of us that actually WATCH our kids. The Diva is not even allowed outside in our locked, gated yard without either myself or her Daddy.
Are these parents taking that whole “it takes a village” theory a little too far? I mean it will only work if the whole village actually agrees to implement it. LOL
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