At Mac for dinner. Not the healthiest or best tasting, but I needed to go somewhere I can work while I eat.
There is a family at the next table. The parents look to be in their late 20s with an eight-year-oldish son. The have a puppy in a cardboard box and haven’t interacted with either of them for 30 minutes as they slowly consume their fries while engrossed in their smart phones. The husband has some sort of game going and the wife is doing social media.
The boy just spoke his first words to his mother only to get a finger held up to her lips in response.
Occasionally the couple share something but no interaction with the son, except for occasionally passing him more food.
I smiled at the son and he gave the hugest grin back. Can’t the parents see what they are setting up their son for?
I teach kids like this: they get no love at home. It’s so sad.
Here’s hoping it’s an exception. Exhausting day, been playing with kid and puppy for hours, promised dinner out if he’d just give them 20 minutes of quiet.
Here’s hoping. (Says the mom who used to tell her toddlers “Mommy’s ears are full. They need to drain for awhile”)
The other day at work a woman with six kids, all roughly the same age (6-8), turned and slapped one of the boys across the face. Right in front of me as I was talking to her.
I [del]possibly[/del] probably overreacted (told her to get the fuck out and not return) but it was a brutal slap. Did she really think what she did was acceptable public behavior? Was it?
Read something a bit ago about a kid that wrote something for a class assignment. He wanted new parents because his parents spent all their time on their phones and computers and would do nothing with him. He wanted parents that would play ball and watch movies with him The teacher read the story and it brought a tear to her eye. The shocker was when she realized the story was written by her son.
My first thought. What the heck is a puppy doing in a McDonalds?
A few years ago I was in a KFC ordering carry out. While I was waiting for my order, some guy comes in with three kids and a small dog. He goes up to the counter, the kids sneak back to a corner table with the dog. I’m watching, and see that they have the dog sitting on the table top. I mentioned it to the counter drone when I picked up my food, but didn’t wait around to see how it turned out.
As a store cashier, I see this practically every day. Little children, some that look about four or five years old, are reaching into the cart and putting the items on the counter while the parent is texting. I always say “It’s a good thing you brought your helper. He/she is doing an excellent job.” The child always smiles; sometimes the parent doesn’t even hear me.
You sure it was a case of parents with a kid as opposed to some young Aunt and her husband having to end up babysitting or an older cousin and his girlfriend?
Cause, as I reach into my thirties, I have found myself being volunteered for babysitting/childminding and damn it can be boring.
I try like hell to do shit with my kid. Bought him a motorcycle, bikes, baseball equipment, football, try to get him to play games with me, built him a killer “treehouse” blah blah blah.
All he wants to do is sit in front of the fucking computer all day.