Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Terrible parents, take note.

For the record, I am about to pass judgement.

I understand that it is hard to be a parent. It is often frustrating and exhausting, and the learning curve is steep. But walking around this city makes me privy to parenting "choices" that make me want to say some R-rated things. Choices like these:

- Dragging your sobbing, obviously exhausted child though the overstimulation that is Times Square at 10:00 at night - and then yelling at him for crying. (I'm talking to you, guy with beer gut and gold chains.)
- Bringing your preschooler to any movie that is not rated G.
- Bringing your preschooler to any movie after 7 pm.
- Make that 5 pm.
- Posing for really, reeeeally inappropriate pictures with your 6-year-old son. (That would be you, tube top-and-short-shorts mama who instructed your child to grab your a** during the shot.)
- Filling your infant's bottle with Pepsi. Or letting them teethe on Doritos.

Of course sometimes I see bad parenting choices that break my heart. I remember riding the subway home after catering gig and watching a very young mother in a McDonald's uniform fall fast asleep while holding her new baby. Parenting is hard - but that is really hard.

1 comment:

Carlien said...

Oh, I know what you mean.. you don't want to judge because who doesn't have a mad parenting day at times?
But then there are those instances where I've seen parents being blatantly cruel or ignorant, and I don't know whether to scream at them or just cry for the kids.