Parenting

There are two types of parents I don't understand. One is the type that assumes you will watch their children while they enjoy themselves and the other is the type that is oblivious to how their children are disrupting others. Unfortunately, some parents are both types.

Years ago, Phillip and I attended a party where swimming was available. Robyn was little and didn't know how to swim. Both of us were in the pool with her, playing around and letting her have fun in the water. The only other person in the pool was a young girl floating around in an inflatable ring. I had no idea whose child she was. She was on her own. All of sudden we heard a bunch of screaming and looked around to see what was up. The girl had slipped out of the ring and was under the water. She couldn't swim. Phillip handed Robyn to me and dove to get her. When he got her to the side of the pool, her mother was standing there. She was upset because Phillip didn't get to her daughter sooner. Why was she in the pool alone if she couldn't swim? She took her daughter away. No thank you. Nothing. Why do some parents expect you to watch their children while they enjoy themselves themselves at an event? After all you are already watching a child. Why not watch another? Similar instances have occurred over the years. Why do some parents just assume you will be their babysitter?

Tonight we went to eat at a restaurant and this sign was on the door. It is sad to me that a business feels they need to post such a sign. The other group of parents that I don't understand are the ones that are oblivious to others around them. They are at a restaurant and their kids are loud, running around, and annoying others trying to eat. Making a general mess at their table. The parents are busy talking to the other parents and are not watching what their angels are doing. You see them at the store. Their kids are running through the isles, bumping to other shoppers. This parent just walks through the store doing their thing, sometimes screaming across isles for their children. These parents are everywhere not giving a thought about how their children are acting or disrupting others. I rarely hear these parents correcting their kids about their behavior.

My girls are not saints and I am not the best parent on the planet, but I don't let them run wild in public nor do I expect others to watch them when it is my job. I get tired of correcting their children and the looks I get from them when I do. I don't just standby and let their kids run amok when their child is disruptive. I just don't get these types of parents.