In Defense of Starting an Argument in Public for Humanity’s Greater Good
A few days ago, I took my kids to one of those places with giant inflatable slides that sane people avoid. My best friend was in town for her once-a-year visit home and in order to show the kids a “good time” took them to inflatable kid heaven, otherwise known as the Jump Zone.
It’s always a mistake, with the noise level and the creeping panic attacks (“Is my kid ever going to come out of there and if not, will I fit because I didn’t squeeze into my Spanx today?”) This time was no exception. I had a truth-moment that will be forever etched on my soul that announced over the loudspeaker in my brain, “Society is doomed. Most people are idiots.” My father says he came to this conclusion many years ago and there’s no big news in it. I always held out hope that the majority of the idiots were the ones who landed on the news for tattooing their ex with depictions of excrement or on the Maury Povich show with a 200 pound eight-year-old. Most people, I thought, are your neighbors who are sane, decent folks. Not so! It turns out the world is littered with mopes and I have proof.
© 2012, Megan Fox. All rights reserved.
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Megan – Amen and thank you for saying what needs to be said! My kids are 21 and 18 and even they are appalled at the behavior of "kids" today. They often remark that they would NEVER have been allowed to get away with acting like that, which is true. The important thing is that I really only had to enforce codes of proper conduct on them when they were pretty young. By the time they were school age, they had learned what was acceptable and behaved accordingly.
The biggest problem with parents today, in my opinion, is lack of consistency. Make a rule and then stick to it. And if you promise a negative consequence, follow through! It's really not rocket science, folks.
By the way, I also homeschooled mine all the way through high school. When asked about the whole socialization question, I would quote a friend who remarked that every bad habit she had as an adult, had been learned while attending the local junior high. All my neighbors, who couldn't say enough bad things about us when we started, would later beg to have my kids watch their houses when they were on vacation because mine were the only kids in the neighborhood who were responsible and trustworthy!
Somewhere there is a now grown young man, that remembers when he was in 2nd grade, a mom, taking him by the arm, and whispering, if you ever bully a first grader again, I will hurt you…
Nah, I wasn't proud, but it stopped the behavior… The best was, when a mother, mouth "thank you" after I had gently repreminded her child — sometimes, when it doesn't come from mom, kids listen…
We will parent any child, that needs it, and call out bad parenting when we see it. I believe this is the 'village' that I want to live in, and if my kids are ever out of line, please someone, help me out.