Your description is so great. I could see it all happening. "justifiably punch them in the face." That is quote-worthy.
Anyway, love the part about the prison and peer pressure and fostering conformity and consumerism. You've just reminded me why I do this every day, even though some days are harder than others. I'm never sending my kids to school. It would break my heart to see all the effort of the past years undone.
I'm amazed "mommy" didn't get upset because your boys were "picking on" her kid. She didn't even notice did she? Jeez, no wonder he's such a joy. His own mother doesn't love him enough to pay attention to him.
In most cases they know their kid is a brat... they just shrug and laugh about it... they'll tell you to your face, "My kid is just mean." then they smile or laugh like its funny.
Its not so funny I suppose though when their "mean" kid gets his ass kicked by a 2 year old... or like you say... it wouldn't have been if she'd even bothered to notice.
While I understand your contempt for the "parent" I think it might be misplaced. She was probably once a brat. She doesn't know how to raise a child because she wasn't properly raised herself.
My point is not to defend her, she is a bad parent and should be responsible to raise her child. I just think that in most cases, the brat in your story will grow up to be an even worse parent than his mother is. This obviously doesn't bode well for our great society.
if one cannot have contempt for a disinterested parent... for whom can one show contempt?
That's beautiful.
Preach it Nate!
A 2yr old pounding a 5yr old. Now thats embarassing. You and your boys give me hope.
Just because someone can "breed", doesn't make them a fit parent. Do you think she would have noticed anything if Eli had put that phone of hers where the sun don't shine(on the 5yr old)?
Nothing like homeschoolers, is there?
It makes so much sense how this country got to be great in the first place, with almost all the children being mostly homeschooled for generations, as soon as you watch a few modern homeschoolers.
Honestly, I think all those people who complain about homeschoolers not being well socialized really just need to go get some education. It gets so tiresome talking to people who can't understand the first word that eventually the homeschoolers just give up.
Betcha Beau and Jeb would get along great. If they ever got bored of shoot'em'up they could always practice their countings-by.
Something similar happened to my 1.5 year old daughter. We were at the mall playground (weather sucked that day) and she was happily running around the various obstacles.
She noticed a boy her size and decided to go say hi to her. He immediately swung a punch at her and knocked her to the ground, my daughter lay crying with confusion.
I was at the scene in an instance blood boiling and glaring at the mother who lazily told her son to stop.
I hope the kid gets some serious discipline growing up, because from the looks of it, he is on his way to becoming a punk.
any 2 year old will punch and hit. They are mean. That's just the way it is. Usually they punch and kick much less when they realize old kids punch and kick harder.
Right, but this kid was persistent. A 2 year old is old enough to get more than a "stop" when punching a smaller person.
Nate!
You know, I didn't realize how much I truly missed your wit and candor on the line. I'm getting to spend alot of time with my niece and nephew, and I've seen that horrible parent. *ugh* But it sounds like you guys are having alot of fun.
my love to all
Sarah
"Honestly, I think all those people who complain about homeschoolers not being well socialized really just need to go get some education."
How can you be unsocialized when you are constantly being told to play nice and get along with your siblings? I think having sisters is one of the things my girls are going to benefit from the most in life. Having to get along with someone who is your polar opposite in personality is one of the hardest things to do in life.
OT - but more cause to doubt vaccines:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
20071...spoiled_vaccine
These people can't even properly preserve them!
Most parents don't understand my fostering of non-compliance and non-conformity in our daughters. Of course these same people don't understand my fascination with the Gadsden flag either.
Jeb then went and dressed down his mother
oooooh!! I like Jeb!
Once he got over there though.. he immediately began punching and kicking the Brat
That is great!
I was at the scene in an instance blood boiling and glaring at the mother who lazily told her son to stop.
And this is why it amazes me that some parents teach their children *not* to defend themselves.
Little snots like that need to be disciplined by someone.
The excuse I've heard for such bratty behavior is, "They're just being kids." My question is, why then is my 2-year-old behaving totally appropriately and your 2-year-old is acting like a yard ape?
Hello, parenting is work, and too many parents are too stinkin' lazy to actually do it.
The other day I was at the car dealership waiting for an estimate on some work they were doing. I took Joshua (barely 2) and Clare (4 months) into the children's play area. It was a circular room with a little table and chairs and a few books. One half was glassed in from floor to ceiling and looked out on the main waiting room. This woman walks up to the door of the children's room with her daughter (she looked to be about three, but she talked like she had rocks in her mouth so who knows), shuffles her in, and then walks away. Let's paint this picture: I'm in there with a toddler and an infant and she sends in her kid, making me now responsible for mediating anything that's happening between her child and mine. Of course the little girl walks in, grabs the book that Joshua's reading out from under his nose, and mumbles something like, "I had it first."
I'm too nice to punch the mom, justified or not. But seriously, "parent" isn't just a noun. So get your lazy ass up and start "parenting."
I know I'm not a parent, but, Mary Beth, your story reminded me of an incident I witnessed at McDonald's. No one else thinks it's a big deal, but..it has to be. The consequences for this mother's behaviour is obvious.
I seen them go in there before. The little boy - who may have been around three or four - with the mother. The first time, they walked in and she ordered him something. He was complaining..saying he wanted ice cream and whining about it.
His Mother resisted for, like, a second. The child upped it up only a tiny notch, and she decided to give him his ice cream. I was like, 'Huh?'
The next time, the child was ordering her where he wanted to sit, and insisting that his lunch needed to go in the garbage because he wanted ice cream again. The child was whining and resisting her at every turn, and she'd capitulate each time.
She even pleaded with the kid. Literally, saying that she had a bad day and couldn't handle the stress..and I'm like, "Your child is three years old. If he understands what you're talking about, you can guarantee he is using that information to manipulate you".
I mean, this child was the classic brat. I want I want I want, and the mother gives gives gives.
That is unacceptable. It is simply unacceptable for a parent to beg their child to do anything. Maybe I'm just off my rockers about this, being childless, but way to give the child the power, parents!
I mean, my Mother used to threaten me, telling me she'd remove my privileges. Her looks were enough to frighten me (seriously! She has this wickedly dark scowl), because I knew that she was willing and ready to give me what was coming to me. Hell, if we were going somewhere we wanted to go and we acted that way, she'd turn us around and we'd go back home.
There were a variety of punishment options, and while I did manipulate my Mother (I used to write sappy notes under the door when I was sequestered to my room), she was still a hell of a lot better than this particular Mother was.
I mean, what kind of an adult doesn't know how to control a three or four year old?
Really, sometimes I think the kids are smarter than the parents.
Go Jeb! Go Eli!
hehehe, good times, good times. You'd think the little beta shits will never learn...well, perhaps they won't.
I'd teach him stuff to respond to the brat's mum with, hmmm.
- Your son is angry, he's not getting enough Tonka Truck at home is he.
- That boy over there said you were fat.
- 50% off at the Beauty Salon today, you should go you need it, take your son with you.
"As usual... there was one little brat. That's a universal rule."
How true, how true.
I am now having to tell mine, "No, you tell the kid to stop bothering you BEFORE you knee him in the groin."
Or to the parent, "I am sorry, I have only told my kids to defend themselves. I think that is why your child is crying."
And with a nice big smile on my face, to the parent, "Hey, welcome to parenthood... get off the phone and be a parent."
It only takes one time for the youngest, he lacks patience as well.
The oldest, he will give kids the benefit of the doubt at least a couple times. But since he has learned the knee "trick", he thinks he is tough stuff.
The most, simply, amazing time was when I had them at a mall last year and there was a little brat (about 4 yrs old) running around and I was casually trying to identify which demon this spawn belonged to. I couldn't place it because all of the parents had looks of contempt on their face but were paying some attention to the Damien child, probably as a measure to see what he would do next to their child. About 10 minutes later a lady walks in with shopping bags. She calls out and this young satan runs over to her and starts to throw a fit.
The lady was in a store shopping (from her bags the store she was in was about 100 yrds away) and had left her child at the play area. I actually started laughing.
She ended up standing near me because her little Beelzebub had demanded they stay longer.
She was on the phone (a given) when her Wormwood threw a fit at another child. She laughed and told the person she was on the phone with what her shedu was doing. She then leaned over to me and said something in a thick accent. I could only make out "kids" so assumed it was something like, "Silly kids..."
I looked at her and said, "Kids? Your kid is a brat."
I think she got upset cause she gathered her precious shayātīn and left in a hurry.
The atmosphere totally changed when they left.
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