Again?!

I must be a magnet for parents with bad behavior. Tonight, we decided to eat out at one of our favorite places. It's family night on Thursday so kids eat for really cheap and a clown comes to paint faces and do balloon animals. Our boys love going. So tonight, as it is on many Thursday nights, the second the clown walks in, the children get overly excited and mob the poor clown lady. But she is a trooper and doesn't seem to mind. She gets busy decorating faces and arms, working quite quickly but also maintaining a friendly smile and engaging the children. Now, if you don't want this kind of excitement, just sit back and wait about 15 minutes and let the clown finish her first round of face paintings and all will quiet down. Really, I promise you - it happens. Just give it 15 minutes, then children will disband and all will be quiet again. BUT as we sat there, one overly eager mother with her 2 year old carried her child over the clown. As the other children stood around and did their ooohs and ahhhhhs over the child getting painted, this MOM held her child up, as if he were an offering to the Gods, and said "HEY, there are smaller kids back here waiting to get their face painted too". I couldn't believe it. How rude can one be? The clown, without skipping a beat, looked up and said "yes I know and everyone will get a turn, when its their turn". She then pointed out several children that had been waiting. The woman then picked her kid back up and went back to her seat - she NEVER came back to get her child's face painted, even when no one was waiting anymore. So what was so important? All the children were excited and anxious but willing to wait their turn patiently. Obviously this mom missed that lesson in life. Exactly what lesson was she providing for her child that day? Gee, let's just be obnoxious in front of a bunch of kids and set proper examples on how to be a good human being. Come on people, straighten up - enjoy life a little!

It's only a game!

It truly freaks me out when I see parents with bad behavior, that these people were blessed with children, that they think they can actually be good parents...what were they thinking? Our family went to the Renaissance Festival a week ago. If you have ever gone, you know that its a grand time of costumes, face paintings and silly moments. You have to love it! We had a blast, the boys couldn't get enough. HOWEVER, some parents seem to come with a different agenda - not to have fun, not to bond with their child, not to even enjoy the moment or fact that they are alive. There are lots of games at this event, most of which require that you shoot something, whether a ball or arrow into a tiny (very tiny) hole a distance from where you are standing. The shooting device that you use, is not calibrated or refined - it is a crudely made wooden or metal object that only requires you to pull a string back and let it go. Where your arrow goes or lands is a total mystery. Yet, one father, standing next to us, as my 3 sons are shooting balls ALL OVER the place and we are laughing and cheering each other on, THIS father felt it necessary to snap at his son (probably age 6). When the "maid" on the other side of the game kindly said to the little boy "don't worry, everyone misses, its just a game", the father quips back "not him". He then snatches the bow out of the kids hand and marches off. The "maid" was quite annoyed and said a few choice words under her breath but still rather loudly. I asked her if this happened often? Her very sad and shocking answer was "yes, all the time". She proceeded to tell me how disturbing it was to her to witness this behavior. It's a GAME people!!! A GAME - you know, what you do to have fun and share with others? Doesn't it make you wonder what will happen to these children as they grow - will they suffer depression, mental illness, smokers, alcoholics, eating disorders? Will they grow up to be bullies like their dad? I just find this so very sad. Though I will say, it made me appreciate my day at the festival with the boys even more and just throw myself into enjoying every moment with them. So while I say "shame on you nasty bully dad", I also say "thanks nasty bully day for making me enjoy my day even more - sorry you missed out".