Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Back On My Soap Box!



Do you remember a few months ago when I wrote about parents and their kids regarding the LACK OF parenting?

Do you remember how angry I was?

Well, maybe you don't remember that part since I did a pretty good job of keeping my cool while writing (I think).

I'm pretty sure that I warned you ahead of time that it wouldn't be the last time I blogged about this topic. It is a topic that weighs heavy on my heart and like it or not... it DOES affect me! Some might think it doesn't. They might say... "Why waste your time and energy on something that is not yours to worry about?" Well... I have some perfect examples of how this IS a worrysome epidemic. Here goes...

Yesterday I took my boys to a splash park. Great fun! Lots of water. Lots of sun. Swarms of kids! Apparently, I wasn't the only one who came up with this idea yesterday. We were just there last week and there was only a handful of others, so we were quite surprised by the many there yesterday. Anyhow, the boys were apprehensive about getting in because of all the other kids. They stood back and watched for awhile. What they observed was a bunch of rude, pushy kids doing nothing but DEMANDING to get their way. They made these demands on other kids AND on their parents! The boys finally got in as nap time quickly made itself known on the clock. Almost robotically, all the moms and dads started TRYING to get their kids out.

It was quite a show.

They would ask nicely, "Johnny, please come out now. It's time to go home."

Nothing. Not even a glance.

"Johnny... Pleeeeeeease."

Still nothing.

The moms would actually head into the water themselves and they actually looked FRIGHTENED to take their child by the hand and pull them out! It wasn't like just one or two did this... they ALL did!! You could almost read their minds. It was like they were saying, "Please, if you come out without throwing a fit and slugging me, you'll get a reward."

Then, it came.

One of the kids DID throw a fit! She started throwing things at others and she literally looked like a little time bomb exploding. When that show was over, the mother of that child made her child apologize to one of the other kids. Then... without skipping a beat, she said... "Okay, let's go get some ice cream before we head home."

WHAT?????

Do you see my pain?



I watched the news before heading to bed last night. I don't usually, but I was feeling restless. Nothing like a little dose of reality to make you feel sleepy, right? Anyhow, there was a story last night about a FOURTEEN year old girl who asked her NINETEEN year old boyfriend to kill her mom. He did. Why? Well, I guess the mother wasn't crazy about her fourteen year old daughter dating a nineteen year old man. Go figure. So... in order to "have her way" the girl decides to just get rid of the problem. Done!

Don't parents see that it DOES matter how we raise our children? It DOES matter when children aren't disciplined fairly. It DOES affect them, and it DOES affect others. We're going to have a HUGE population of crazy teens to twenty somethings walking the planet in a few years that blow things up, murder, steal... WHATEVER... all in the name of getting their way!

Here's the good (extra sweet) part. For Father's Day we took J to lunch at this place called Johnny Garlic's. It's AWESOME and it truly is a man's restaurant. J feasted on his first bison steak. It was delectable! The food was fabulous, and the service was top notch. We had enjoyed our meal completely and were getting ready to pay our bill when our server came to us with this HUGE slab of mud pie. J and I looked at each other with confusion. We hadn't ordered any dessert. Our server must have seen our confusion immediately because he went on to say that dessert was on the house BECAUSE OF OUR KIDS! He was amazed by their behavior and manners. He said that they never see that and what an amazing statement our three boys made to their entire staff that day. WOW... do compliments get any better than that???

So... it DOES affect me. Sometimes it affects me in a positive way....

Like in the form of mint chip mud pie with a big ol' mound of fresh whipped cream on top (shared with my four favorite men, of course).

4 comments:

Alexis said...

what she said!

Your Dad said...

You sound like your dad!

The Holbrook Family said...

My faithful reader...love to you and your gang!
I guess this is one of the bummer results of living in a fallen world...but, where would we be without Jesus! Salt and light!

Steven said...

You should see the parental norms in Utah. The splash park by our house is a constant source of annoyance! I have never seen so many parents that just don't seem to care what their kids are doing. Everyone always said "you'll understand when you have kids" Well no, I do and I still don't get it.