I'm a parent. I have been a parent for a bit over seven years (I started being a parent before my oldest was born by choosing what was best for him while I was pregnant, over what I wanted).
As a parent, I do make mistakes. I fully admit that.
I do not, however, make nearly as many mistakes as I see most other parents making.
Yes, I judge you and your parenting by your sprogs, and by your choices.
If you give your young sprogs caffeinated beverages, I'm judging you. Unless your child is honestly chemically ADHD, and you're using caffeine to control symptoms instead of medicating your child into a zombie, you're turning your child into a jittery, cranky, uncontrollable monster, and I'm judging you to be a bad parent on that basis. Your kid's not a bad kid--you are a bad parent turning your kid into a monster.
If you give your sprogs more soda and kool-aid than you do juice, water, and milk, I'm judging you. You're setting your kid up for health problems in the future. I will admit, I do lean toward convenience foods, but chicken nuggets and pizza rolls ain't the same thing as drinks laden with empty calories and absolutely no redeeming qualities other than "it tastes good."
If I see your sprog running up and down the aisles of Walmart or the local sporting goods stores, dribbling a basketball, running into people, screaming, and throwing the ball into clothing displays, I'm judging you. You, not your sprog. Your sprog doesn't know any better than to behave like a savage. It's what children do, when they're left to their own devices because you've got your phone stuck to your face because it's either more interesting or easier than controlling your sprog. There are no bad kids. Just parents who suck because they don't give as much of a shit about their kid as they do about themselves. And you, Ms. Sunshine, scowling at me for scowling at your small, screaming savage, are a shit parent for not teaching your sprog--who happens to be a few years older than my oldest, and behaving three or four years younger than my youngest--how to behave.
When I hear you chatting with your friends about how you refuse to breastfeed because you don't want your breasts ruined, and/or formula's just more convenient...yeah, I'm judging you, too. You are a fucking idiot. Formula is NOT more convenient, and I promise you I got a lot more sleep even doing all of the feedings for both of my breast-fed babies than you're going to get formula feeding one, especially since demographics* predict that you're probably a single mom who's going to be "raising" the child on your own.
On the other hand, when I hear you self-righteously pontificating over all of the activities you're paying for your sprog to be involved in...yeah, I'm judging you, too. You are damaging your child. Study after study have proven that unscheduled play time does far more in creating beneficial thought patterns than structured activity does, especially in children younger than ten. Over-scheduling your sprog for structured activities creates a stressed-out, neurotic monster. If you hate your child enough that you refuse to spend time with them, spend that same money and hire a fucking nanny who'll love your child enough to make sure they grow up with as few hang-ups as possible.
When I hear you self-righteously pontificating over your vegetarian lifestyle, and how healthy your young child is on it, I start wondering if I should call CPS. Especially when I see your tiny, wan, washed-out child who's smaller than my youngest and the same age as my eldest. And especially when I hear how far behind your sprog is mentally. Your sprog NEEDS meat and fish in their diet up until about puberty. Their brain needs the fats and proteins. And I'm judging you for forcing your own unhealthy eating habits onto your child, especially if you're also eyeing your child and muttering about obesity.
And last, but not least, if you have your children in public school at all, without a court order from a family court judge demanded by your ex...yeah, I'm judging you. If your sprog gets on a bus before seven, they're under ten, and are playing outside until 9pm every night...I've moved past judging you into the realm of I want to slap the dog shit out of you and put your kids to bed so that they don't fail in the shit-hole you've heaved them into, and can maybe make a success of themselves despite you and the public "education" system.
With all due consideration,
An Old-Fashioned Mom
*The demographic I'm talking about is 16-19 year old teen moms. Of all races, colors, and creeds.
1 hour ago
Totally agree. I was a free range kid and so were my kids. They did not go to a restaurant until they learned how to behave and I was not above smacking them if they started stomping their feet and screaming. We ate meat, potatoes and veggies at night and if they didn't want it, they went hungry. They cleaned up their rooms and were taught to be polite and not to interrupt when adults were speaking. They had chores. Kids are too coddled and spoiled these days and so are their parents,
ReplyDeleteI let my kids do a whole lot of their own thing. They have been incredibly well behaved in public from the start--it's at home that they act out. ;)
DeleteNot interrupting adults is a work in progress.
Yup. I'm at fault on the public school, but this is the last year. The elementary school we have is awesome. My middle schooler is homeschooled. Next one comes home next year. Jury is still out on #3. He's mildly autistic. We're looking into the best program for him next year, and started that back in the summer. All the others, 10000% agree and follow.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, with disabilities, choices are limited.
DeleteAmen and Amen
ReplyDeleteA child is the only known substance from which responsible adult can be fashioned.
It seems, sometimes, that many parents forget that we're not raising children, we're raising future adults.
DeleteFrankly, the 'new' generation of parents scares the crap out of me...
ReplyDeleteMe, too. Especially the "I wanna be their friend!" types.
Delete