I Just Don't Get It

The other day at the gym, we were waiting in line to get in to the playroom when another mom carried her tantruming boy out.  He looked like he was about 4 years old, and he was really throwing a fit.  This mom was obviously frustrated and embarrassed. The frustration I totally get- there is nothing fun about your kids acting crazy, especially in front of a bunch of other parents.  But embarrassed about the actual tantrum?  No.  Stop.  We've ALL been there.  Instead of her child, what this lady should have been embarrassed of was what happened next.

As he was yelling and kicking and flailing around, she stopped right where she was (blocking the door to get in), looked at my kids and said, "stop acting like such a JERK in front of these other nice boys".  Um, lady.  Please do not bring my children in to your awkward moment.  Since that did absolutely nothing except teach her 4-year-old the word JERK, he continued to carry on, this time attempting to hit her in order to get her to put him down.  She grabs his hand and tells him, (yelling now), "you do NOT hit me!  If you do not knock it off NOW, I will hit you right here in front of all of these people!"

Good one, Mom.  Way to send your highly impressionable child a crazy mixed message.  I'm sure that the physical pain and public humiliation that you impose will teach him how to express himself much more appropriately next time. 

It sounds so stupid, right?  But it happened.  And the sad thing is that it happens all the time to a lot of kids. 

Some cute kids who have never
been spanked.  And guess what?
They still listen to their parents and
use their manners. 

I read a blog post written by a mom who loves her kids.  This whole post was about seeing kids as a blessing and not as a chore or a burden.  Ok, fine.  But what I didn't get is when she got done talking about how much love she has for them, she threw in there that "I spank them".  Um, ok.  WHY?  When she was challenged in the comments section by someone who lives where spanking is actually illegal, she responded that she considers it "child training", and said something about the Bible (which was written HOW many years ago???  But I digress...). And then went on to say something about assuming the lady isn't a Christian. 

Oh MyLanta.  I am 100000000% not here to get all religious or preachy or even to claim that I know the best way in which to raise a child.  But please- think about what you're doing.  Do you allow your kids to hit other people?  What does hitting your kids actually teach them?  It's called MODELING peeps, and it goes a long, long way.

Believe it or not, I don't really like to get all deep on the blog.  But this has been bugging me and I couldn't let it go.  I like to have fun and be funny and talk about all of my poor eating choices and lack of workouts.  So I promise to be all of that and more next time.  And until then, go show your babies how to be upstanding young ladies and gentlemen. 

Have a healthy day,

J