Tell me what you really think.
It all comes down to the parents, doesn't it? Moronic, ill-mannered parents raise moronic, ill-mannered kids. That is never more evident than when I worked our school talent show a few years ago and realized that the rude, boorish, fools in the audience weren't the kids, but the parents. Screaming at the stage, yelling into their cell phones during the performance, booing for other acts, you name it - if it was disgusting public behavior, they did it. Is it any wonder their offspring are such monsters.
Any wonder I refuse to not only work, but attend the talent shows any more?
Let me just say...Amen.
Respect, baby, respect. It is all respect for yourself, others, your family included. Cool post. Been there, seen that. As for the Carn of Ed, have you been to
http://joannejacobs.com/
she has an all education news blog that keeps me current. She manages to gather lots of news from all over the country. Cool stuff. By the way my family is pretty well behaved cept for my 2 year old (crazy as mo) as we never know what to expect from her.
Peace!
Heh. Reminds me of a time several years ago when I took a friend of mine and her 2 y/o daughter to lunch. Her child was an absolute mess, and the mother paid no attention whatsoever. The little girl threw napkins, dropped food, smeared tomato sauce all over her seat, and her mother just thought it was "sooo cute" and normal. As we were leaving, our waitress asked me if I was the little girl's mother (she'd left a toy behind). I had no children at the time, but I had standards. I said "Gosh,no!" I was thoroughly embarassed that it was assumed that because I tried to pick up after the child, I must be the responsible party. I left a very large tip in apology, but it was a long time before I returned to that restaurant again. Needless to say, I never went to any restaurant with that friend again. I now have a 2 y/o son myself. I can say he's never embarassed me that way. The difference isn't that I expect better public behavior of my children. The difference is that I expect better behavior than that everywhere, including our home.
Did you see the recent story about the owner of a coffee shop who put a sign on the door saying something to the effect that only patrons whose children were well-behaved were welcome? There was a mild outcry, natch, but then there was an even louder cry of approval. People are fed up with this crap.
We can't go around demanding that parents teach their children properly (alas!), but we can tell restaurant owners that we expect them to protect us, their well-behaved patrons, from the screams and shrieks of unruly children nearby.
Put the pressure where you can, folks - give feedback to the managers of restaurants, even fast-food joints, theatres, etc., whenever they pretend it's not within their power to rein in the baboons in their establishment.
Ha- I posted about restaurant behavior in my blog too -- but not nearly as eloquently as you did!
Why, oh why, can't people teach their children manners? Oh -- perhaps it is because they have no manners themselves!
Teaching kids etiquette and proper behavior is painstaking, hard work--and some parents are very lazy. I never blame the kids, only the parents.
I love to leave a table clean for the waitress or next people. Basic courtesy.
Mamacita, I was wondering, has Garrison Steelle fallen off the edge of the planet so far as you can tell too? I've looked periodically and haven't seen a spot of him for over a year.
You are too magnanimous to let one large family (They have more kiddos than I do!) color your view of all large families, of course.
Well, they say "how you do anything is how you do everything." And I'm inclined to agree - I see families at church. One of them, the father tells his sons after a meal (very quietly but seriously), "Okay...it's time for us to clean up after ourselves now." And they do. And they are also polite and respectful little boys (Oh, they run sometimes, they're loud sometimes. But even the best behaved little kids are sometimes). Other families, don't seem to have this expectation. And their kids are the ones that teach the other kids bad things to say, or who are rude or who ignore the adults who ask them to do things (or not do things, like run in the halls).
I do think parents are the key. And I don't buy the "I'm too busy" or "but I want to be my kids' FRIEND" arguments. My parents were busy when I was growing up and they found time to teach my brother and me proper manners. And kids don't need an adult friend, they need PARENTS. And sometimes that means being the "bad guy." But trust me - when your kids are grown, they will thank you. I thank my parents regularly for being strict and from expecting good behavior out of me; it has made adulthood far easier.
We're three weeks past spring break.
Mothers like that need to be rewarded for producing children who behave that way! I know too many who don't.
I am just one week of school away from Spring Break and I look forward to some lunches out with my sister and my mom.
It is amazing to me when parents of misbehaving kids put it off like they can't do anything about it, and they haven't had anything to do with the behavior. I think these parents are very selfish to allow this behavior to continue.
I always try to smile at parents that children who are behaving in a resturaunt, even when they are being a little noisy. I also stop at tables when the kids are great and compliment them on their good behavior.
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