CNN columnist calls out parents of badly behaved kids!

[Lace Neil Singer]

In a supermarket, or high street, or a park, you expect to hear noise. Noise that may consist of the odd screaming child. However, inside a posh restaurant, a cinema or a library, screaming children are not welcome and should not be encouraged. If I were taking a walk in the park by the river and saw children running around and shouting, I'd expect it and accept that they can do this. However, inside a bar, I'd be annoyed and think that their parents were selfish dickheads.

[Peppergirl]

I guess I simply don't understand the reasoning of some of these parents.

Why would they think it's acceptable to allow their child to scream and yell and make no effort to hush them, thereby torturing everyone around them?

[LexiaFira]

I guess I simply don't understand the reasoning of some of these parents.

Why would they think it's acceptable to allow their child to scream and yell and make no effort to hush them, thereby torturing everyone around them?

Because some parents have learned to tune out the screaming or have it become background noise or be selective of hearing.
Which is sad and wrong.
The best example I can give is this:
I used to teach myself to tune out certain noises at work that were unavoidable such as the scanner every time it beeped at scanning something yet I would pay attention when it DID NOT beep.
So for another example if my daughter was screaming at a public place say a not so kid oriented restaurant then yes I would either shush her or give her something to keep her from screaming or would take her to the bathroom or outside. If she was quiet the entire time from the moment we stepped into the door to stepping out I'd be worried she would be sick or is that my kid?

I agree with the article and wish to add that its sad that when I do go out I see less and less of behaved or semi-behaved children and more and more of bad or lax parents.

[Andara Bledin]

Why would they think it's acceptable to allow their child to scream and yell and make no effort to hush them, thereby torturing everyone around them?

Because sometimes there's just no other choice.

^-.-^

[Peppergirl]

Because sometimes there's just no other choice.

^-.-^

I disagree. One always has a choice to parent their children and at least ATTEMPT to get them to behave. I'm not saying one can always be successful, but it can always at least be attempted.

Children will do what children do. My problem is with the parents that feel that everyone should bend and cater to tantrums and bad behavior. If you want to let your kids run wild and have no rules, do it at home.

[IDrinkaRum]

That's why restaurants can box up whatever you've ordered/are eating and you can leave. I've threatened Child Rum with that when she acts up. She settles right down. She knows I'm serious because I actually did that. I looked at Mr. Rum told him to get him and her out to the car, flagged the waitress down, and got all our food bundled up and we went home. End of story.

[Peppergirl]

That's why restaurants can box up whatever you've ordered/are eating and you can leave. I've threatened Child Rum with that when she acts up. She settles right down. She knows I'm serious because I actually did that. I looked at Mr. Rum told him to get him and her out to the car, flagged the waitress down, and got all our food bundled up and we went home. End of story.

I can't even count the number of cold meals and packed up leftovers I
ate when Danny was little. If he didn't behave, he was taken outside or to the car. Simple as that. We didn't allow him to act up and disturb everyone else's experience.

[Canarr]

What got me is that this woman argues that her three-year-old is a person that nobody has the right to discriminate against based on her age - and then turns around and calls it oppression when someone dares to voice the opinion that, if her argument were true, then one could expect her daughter-person to behave according to the expectations placed on anyone else in the same situation. Double standard - check.

Not to mention the fact that someone in the comments actually compared banning children from a bar with child abuse and child slavery...

I can't even count the number of cold meals and packed up leftovers I
ate when Danny was little. If he didn't behave, he was taken outside or to the car. Simple as that. We didn't allow him to act up and disturb everyone else's experience.

Exactly. As a regular patron of eating establishments, my thanks go out to you and IDrinkaRum, as well as all other responsible parents.

[Andara Bledin]

I fully agree that bars, restaurants, and other non-essential places shouldn't have to endure a full blown tantrum within their confines, but the comment I was responding to was specifically about loud kids in the setting of a grocery store.

^-.-^

[KnitShoni]

I disagree. One always has a choice to parent their children and at least ATTEMPT to get them to behave. I'm not saying one can always be successful, but it can always at least be attempted.

Children will do what children do. My problem is with the parents that feel that everyone should bend and cater to tantrums and bad behavior. If you want to let your kids run wild and have no rules, do it at home.

Exactly. I've seen and heard the difference in people's reaction to a misbehaving child whose parents do nothing about it versus a misbehaving child whose parents make an effort.

And, I'm sorry. I don't actually think overly loud kids are ok in a grocery store, either. I wouldn't want to hear someone screaming in a grocery store, no matter the age. There is no need for screaming and tantrums in aisle 7.

[Canarr]

I'm willing to make certain allowances for a grocery store. People need groceries, so they need to go shopping. Even single parents, or any parent whose SO is maybe currently working. And if you can't find a sitter, but need to get groceries before dinnertime, and can't leave your kid at home... yeah.

Sometimes a tantrum ist just attention grabbing, and can be subdued relatively quickly - and sometimes not. I'd say that allowing the parent in question to continue their shopping weighs more heavily than my desire to peruse aisle 7 without hearing toddler screams. After all, the grocery store is usually large enough that I can avoid the child's immediate vicinity if I make a minor effort.

Of course, if the parent does absolutely nothing to even attempt to quiet their child, my sympathy for them goes out the window.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I disagree. One always has a choice to parent their children and at least ATTEMPT to get them to behave. I'm not saying one can always be successful, but it can always at least be attempted.

This. If, when I see a screaming and misbehaving child out in public, I see the parent or parents frantically trying to hush the child, I think, "Poor sods. That can't be easy". It's the fact that they're obviously aware of their child's bad behaviour and are making attempts to quiet them.

However, if I see parents ignoring or, worse, encouraging their child's awful behaviour, then I'll think that the parents are idiots and their kid is a nasty brat.

[tropicsgoddess]

All the shit kids pull these days would've earned me or my sisters an ass whopping if we even DARED to try that as kids. I get that it's not easy to be a parent, especially if you're doing it alone, but for the "parents" that let their kids run amok and walk all over them is fucking stupid.

[Mishi]

*Applauds the columnist* That's one brave lady!
I couldn't even finish the second article. Is she crazy? I love my children, but that's what they are... they are CHILDREN! Yeah, they are people in their own right, but they're 4 and 2. They still need to be guided and taught how to behave properly!

It's not just permissive parents that are the problem, it's the rest of the family too. Went to the park with my M-I-L, my munchkins and their cousin. Cousin decided he wanted to run off. M-I-L stood there and shrieked empty threats at an almost 4 year old, then started walking away until people glared at her until she hurriedly waddled after him. He tried it again about 15 minutes later on the beach. My two were happily building a castle, so I told M-I-L to watch them and started walking after him. He was looking back to see if he had any attention and I gave him 'The Look'. He slowed for a moment, then changed direction towards a main road. I called out and told him that I was going to count down from 5 and if he wasn't back to Nanny by the time I got to zero, then he was not going to like what would happen. I got to 3 and he raced right back. Tried again a few minutes later, so I reminded him that I was down to 3 and he was about to be a very unhappy boy. He ran back to her and didn't play up for the rest of the outing.

[Sleepwalker]

Lord, that blog. Not only are children oppressed people who need to be taken everywhere she would be allowed, once they get their they need not to be expected to behave, because they are children!

I feel for the poor friends of this woman. Since apparently her child is a part of her, instead of asking whether her kid is coming, they should ask if she feels she is going to be underage, loud, can't drink, messy, and tired tonight.