Small children.

[rdawson808]

Originally Posted by Isaac Mickle

Oh, to be young and selfish again.

Are you talking about LK or about the children? I really want to know.

I'm not a huge fan of kids either. I don't want any and will not have any. But more than the kids, who are just being kids afterall, are the parents that think the world was meant exclusively for their children. This ranges from Moms dangerously driving SUVs with little care for anyone else to my oldest sister who let her kids run up and down my stairs nearly knocking over an art nouveau vase. I told them to stop. My home is not "kid friendly" and it won't be.

And I have been called selfish on more than one occassion for either (i) not liking such behaviour as my neice and nephew were exhibiting, or (ii) for not having children.

How can I be selfish for not having children? I'm sure my mother could explain it to me one more time but then I'd have to punch her. And I'm sure some random stranger could but then...well, you get the point. It's none of your damn business whether or not I breed or if not, why not. It is your business to make sure your kid doesn't make everyone else's life miserable though.


b

 

[lawyerdad]

Yeah, much better the guy who clipped off my wife's side-view mirror while she was sitting at a stop sign and then when she started to get out of the car to ask for his information drove off screaming "Go to hell, c***!" Or the folks you'll find at pretty much any restaurant shrieking into their cell phones the entire evening (and then probably stiffing the server on the tip.) Or the people who dump their food wrappers, empty bottles, and used rubbers on the beach rather than carry them 50 feet to a trash can.
Yes, give me those mature, considerate, socially responsible adults any day . . .

 

[Saucemaster]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Yeah, much better the guy who clipped off my wife's side-view mirror while she was sitting at a stop sign and then when she started to get out of the car to ask for his information drove off screaming "Go to hell, c***!"

But seriously now, is using vanity as an example really fair?

 

[lawyerdad]

 

[rdawson808]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Yeah, much better the guy who clipped off my wife's side-view mirror ...
.
Yes, give me those mature, considerate, socially responsible adults any day . . .

Oh give me break LD. There are obviously people like that in the world. All over the place.

Ultimately this issue comes down to the adults, the parents. There is something particularly galling about having children shoved down your throat. Horrible manners from parents in front of their kids. What lesson are you teaching them? Just as those adults you described above seem to think the world is their trash can, these mothers (it's always been mothers in my experience) treat the world as their dormat and EXPECT you to take it and to treat their child like royalty. Little Johnny is standing up on his chair at the cafe banging his sippy-cup on the table? Great. Nevermind that his dirty feet are on the chair and someone will come along later and unknowingly sit there (speaking from experience). Yes it bothered me that my neice and nephew were running up and down the stairs--they might have knocked over that vase. It was expensive. And in my house my vase comes before my neice and nephew's need to run up and down the stairs. And I wish my sister would have told them to stop right after I said, "You know, we have an antique vase right there." But she didn't.

Selfish parents.

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Yeah, much better the guy who clipped off my wife's side-view mirror while she was sitting at a stop sign and then when she started to get out of the car to ask for his information drove off screaming "Go to hell, c***!" Or the folks you'll find at pretty much any restaurant shrieking into their cell phones the entire evening (and then probably stiffing the server on the tip.) Or the people who dump their food wrappers, empty bottles, and used rubbers on the beach rather than carry them 50 feet to a trash can. Yes, give me those mature, considerate, socially responsible adults any day . . .
Well, that's who the overindulged, poorly socialized brats grow up to be. As for the brats, they don't know any better -- screaming and self-centeredness are only natural. If the people responsible for teaching you to function as a responsible and considerate member of society fail to do so, then there is only one possible result. The future of reality television is secure.

 

[redcaimen]

Originally Posted by rdawson808

Are you talking about LK or about the children? I really want to know.

I'm not a huge fan of kids either. I don't want any and will not have any. But more than the kids, who are just being kids afterall, are the parents that think the world was meant exclusively for their children. This ranges from Moms dangerously driving SUVs with little care for anyone else to my oldest sister who let her kids run up and down my stairs nearly knocking over an art nouveau vase. I told them to stop. My home is not "kid friendly" and it won't be.

And I have been called selfish on more than one occassion for either (i) not liking such behaviour as my neice and nephew were exhibiting, or (ii) for not having children.

How can I be selfish for not having children? I'm sure my mother could explain it to me one more time but then I'd have to punch her. And I'm sure some random stranger could but then...well, you get the point. It's none of your damn business whether or not I breed or if not, why not. It is your business to make sure your kid doesn't make everyone else's life miserable though.


b

I think you are right on both counts. People should exercise more control over their childrens behavior and its best if you dont have children.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by rdawson808

Oh give me break LD. There are obviously people like that in the world. All over the place.

Ultimately this issue comes down to the adults, the parents. There is something particularly galling about having children shoved down your throat. Horrible manners from parents in front of their kids. What lesson are you teaching them? Just as those adults you described above seem to think the world is their trash can, these mothers (it's always been mothers in my experience) treat the world as their dormat and EXPECT you to take it and to treat their child like royalty. Little Johnny is standing up on his chair at the cafe banging his sippy-cup on the table? Great. Nevermind that his dirty feet are on the chair and someone will come along later and unknowingly sit there (speaking from experience). Yes it bothered me that my neice and nephew were running up and down the stairs--they might have knocked over that vase. It was expensive. And in my house my vase comes before my neice and nephew's need to run up and down the stairs. And I wish my sister would have told them to stop right after I said, "You know, we have an antique vase right there." But she didn't.

Selfish parents.

I don't disagree with anything you said (except the limitation to mothers - I know equally idiotic fathers who think parenting involves modeling narcissistic behavior for their kids), nor do I think I posted anything inconsistent with it. My response was intended most to be tongue-in-cheek, and perhaps also to suggest that some of the more extreme reactions have more to do with the posters' social anxiety than any moral failings on the part of children.
As you've noted, if your nephew and niece are are behaving inappropriately in your home, that reflects more on your sister than on them.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Quirk

If the people responsible for teaching you to function as a responsible and considerate member of society fail to do so, then there is only one possible result.

.

I agree in general, but not with the sweeping nature of your statement. I know plenty of people who have become mature and responsible in spite of, as opposed to because of, the parenting they experienced.

 

[Fabienne]

What's interesting to me in the US is that if I am in the middle of telling my son he should or shouldn't do something, people will often say "Oh, that's OK."

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by Fabienne

What's interesting to me in the US is that if I am in the middle of telling my son he should or shouldn't do something, people will often say "Oh, that's OK."

It takes a village idiot.

 

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

I agree in general, but not with the sweeping nature of your statement. I know plenty of people who have become mature and responsible in spite of, as opposed to because of, the parenting they experienced.
Point taken. They must have had some sort of surrogates, then. If only Lucy and Ricky.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by Fabienne

What's interesting to me in the US is that if I am in the middle of telling my son he should or shouldn't do something, people will often say "Oh, that's OK."

Yes, I often have the same experience. I think that many people are so self-centered in their thinking that they cannot understand that I define the appropriate limits of my daughter's behavior by the values I want her to learn and embody rather than by the tolerance of others.

 

[Dakota rube]

The problem with children isn't the kids, but their parents. Bad parents create bad kids. In every sense of the word.

 

[Stazy]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

The best is when they bring them to restaurants. If the entree costs more than $9.95, leave em at home.
I disagree. Learning how to act in more refined settings is an important part of any child's development. As such, my parents routinely brought me and my siblings to fine dining establishments during our younger years. My parents have told stories of how other restaurant patrons were entirely disgusted to see 4 young kids seated near them, only to have them complement our behaviour at the conclusion of our meal. We were well behaved because 1) we did not want to face the wrath of are parents and 2) an uneventful meal almost guaranteed us dessert.

It is a shame most kids cannot sit through a nice meal, but I think the fault lies more with the parents than with the poorly behaved child.