what's wrong with parents these days?

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jimmie25
jimmie25 Posts: 266
in Chit-Chat
okay so i'm partly ranting but that other part of me is really interested what goes on in parents minds these days..


some time ago at the grocery store:

kid (maybe about 6yrs): "mom i want onion rings for dinner!"
mom: "oh sure, i was kinda wondering what vegetables i could prepare with your meatballs."

FOR REAL?

the other situation was at the restaurant i work at, when a mom ordered large fries for her 3 year old, so he'd have his daily veggies.... (that same person called popcorn a vegetable cause it's made of corn..). she also ordered a meal that all in one had over 1600 cals for her older kid that was maybe 7 yrs old. i'd like to mention that those people are regulars, i see them every friday evening, they order the same load of crap and make sure they always advertise their (lack of) intelligence by telling that same old retarded joke about popcorn and fries being vegetables.

so much for the nutrition-stupidity-rant.

but that's not it of course.

yesterday, i jogged past a playground.
girl#1 (maybe 5 years old): mom, XXX threw a snowball right in my face!
mom (with a serious expression on her face): well, take that brick that's next to the swing and hit him back on the head!

another playground situation (this was a long time ago but just crossed my mind). this happened in our neighbours back yard actually. they have two boys who were playing "war" (awesome, isnt it..). the other guy pretended to be a soldier and the other guy loudly announced to be osama bin laden, while his brother "shot him in the head". and their parents would just smile about it.

When I was little we weren't supposed to hit people AT ALL, neither with bricks nor imaginary weapons and we had to eat our happy meals (that we used to get once every 2 months maybe) with apples/carrots and juice. Obviously rules have changed. Some people should really have their tubes tied.

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  • Mamakatspokane
    Mamakatspokane Posts: 3,098 Member
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    As someone who in my early 20's worked with kids and had gone to school for it I felt very happy to judge other's parenting skills. However now as a parent I think we all do the best we can. Some people were not raised with role models who taught them how to parent or anything about nutrition. With that said...I am constantly mortified with the way people parent their kids. But as a wise man told me once "They grow up in spite of us." I try to keep quiet and know that my way may not be the best way for everyone...trust me this is very hard when your kids come home and tell you the stunts other peoples kids have pulled.
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
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    okay, maybe if you really live on another planet and haven't been to excited about school you could seriously believe that fries and onion rings are good sources for veggies....but then again.. everybody knows that neither popcorn nor fries are the healthiest ways to consume certain vegetables. i mean, excuse me..

    also, if you tell any kid to hit another kid/person in the head with a brick, that has little to do with "parenting mistakes". of course no parents are perfect, mine were neither and i don't intend to be a perfect mom in the future.. but there are some certain ground rules i guess... that kid might grow up thinking it's ok to hit people with bricks, not a very bright future.
  • KJVBear33
    KJVBear33 Posts: 628
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    With the food issue, I tend to leave it to the parents descretion.......learn to shake it off and shake my head because they will learn sooner or later that popcorn, fries, and onion rings aren't good sources for veggies.

    The other issue.....with the brick........I can't believe someone actually said that to their kid. We have violence everywhere we look and the last thing we need is someone condoning it when there are kids involved because kids are impressionable. Maybe she was kidding about hitting the other with a brick.......but some kids dont get sarcasm or jokes like that like we adults do. And what if the kid actually had found said brick and hit the other with it in the head? Not a happy ending for that other kid.......possibly might cause a concussion........worse yet medical issues regarding the brain and how it works........and the worst of all, death--if the kid hits them hard enough to cause major bleeding that is.
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,829 Member
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    When it comes to food, I try not to judge other parents, but it does make me cringe when I see people feed their kids crap on a regular basis. My son is INSANELY picky and really difficult to feed, so I can understand sometimes when you just want to get something in your kid's stomach. There was a 3 week period of time where the only way he would eat any sort of food is if chicken nuggets were involved with the meal. I started making my own baked ones so they were at least somewhat healthy. Currently, the only vegetables he will even entertain the idea of eating are broccoli and carrots, and the broccoli is only about 60% of the time.

    As far as the physical violence thing goes, I am teaching my son what my parents taught me. You better not start a fight with anyone, but if someone starts a fight with you, you better finish it. When I was 12, my dad taught me how to throw a good solid punch. To this day, the only physical altercation I have ever been in was with an abusive boyfriend, and I hit him to defend myself...I think I get a free pass on that one.

    It's my opinion that we shouldn't teach our children to be aggressive, or to resort to physical violence, but we should teach our children how to be tough and how to defend themselves, because let's face it, it's not a cotton candy world out there, and everyone needs to know how to stand up for themselves.
  • SueStubbs
    SueStubbs Posts: 17
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    You see all kinds of things that parents out there do that you cant believe and not just with what they feed their kids but what behavior that they allow them to do or even treat their kids. alot of what wrong is that they let their kids do what they want when they need to be parenting their kids so they know responablily when they grow up. Ive always done healthly snancks and made healthly meals for them. Plus it helps when the partents made the healthly choices as well. Plus i have a child that ADHD he not suppose to have a lot of sugar. Just like it gets on my nerves with parents sending all this candy with the parties and then the teachers still give it to my son.
  • Bridget0927
    Bridget0927 Posts: 438 Member
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    I consider it child abuse as your putting your child in a situation that is harmful to them.

    I am a mom I know its difficult to make healthy choices when unhelthy ones are more convenient.

    You wouldnt put your child in harms way cuz it was more convenient and thats the same.

    That being said I believe there are a load of parents who dont know better as they eat this way themselves.
  • MomsTooBig
    MomsTooBig Posts: 201 Member
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    When it comes to food, I try not to judge other parents, but it does make me cringe when I see people feed their kids crap on a regular basis. My son is INSANELY picky and really difficult to feed, so I can understand sometimes when you just want to get something in your kid's stomach. There was a 3 week period of time where the only way he would eat any sort of food is if chicken nuggets were involved with the meal. I started making my own baked ones so they were at least somewhat healthy. Currently, the only vegetables he will even entertain the idea of eating are broccoli and carrots, and the broccoli is only about 60% of the time.

    As far as the physical violence thing goes, I am teaching my son what my parents taught me. You better not start a fight with anyone, but if someone starts a fight with you, you better finish it. When I was 12, my dad taught me how to throw a good solid punch. To this day, the only physical altercation I have ever been in was with an abusive boyfriend, and I hit him to defend myself...I think I get a free pass on that one.

    It's my opinion that we shouldn't teach our children to be aggressive, or to resort to physical violence, but we should teach our children how to be tough and how to defend themselves, because let's face it, it's not a cotton candy world out there, and everyone needs to know how to stand up for themselves.

    Very well put. I agree :wink:
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
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    Well self defence is a different thing I guess. But we're talking about a situation where another kid accidentally threw a SNOWBALL into this kids face, or at least this is how i understood the situation. no need to throw a brick back :D when we were little we used to toss snowballs all the time and sometimes they just land where they're not supposed to, that's called playing xD
  • Dilfster
    Dilfster Posts: 434
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    I consider McDonalds to be a healthy restaurant now that they include apple slices in their happy meals (along with the greasy fried chicken mcnuggets & french fries.) (sarcasm ;)
  • Wileyjoe
    Wileyjoe Posts: 282
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    Is this some kind of trick? Am I on one of those prankster shows?
  • chellelynn30
    chellelynn30 Posts: 60
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    I have a 5 year old and a 1 year old. My 5 year old would rather have the vegetables and fruit where as my 1 year old wants the fries. However, they know what to eat and whet not to eat. I am far from the perfect parent, and I admit that I judge those parents too, but sometimes giving in and letting them have their candy is easier then a tantrum!

    Also, the gun thing... My 5 year old is a special needs child due to shaken baby syndrome, I am so against violence and guns. You are a stronger person then I to not say something to those parents.

    Just my opinion!
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
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    Also, the gun thing... My 5 year old is a special needs child due to shaken baby syndrome, I am so against violence and guns. You are a stronger person then I to not say something to those parents.

    Just my opinion!

    My dad told them his opinion but I'm not sure they cared.
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
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    Is this some kind of trick? Am I on one of those prankster shows?

    wish you were.

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