what is it about having children that causes women to become inconsiderate monsters?

[Rilchiam]

@calm kiwi

You have a good point (except for the Sponge Bob bit, seriously if mummy’s programme is more important then kid’s programe then mummy has issues)

Oh, come on! Are you honestly saying that mommy does. not. ever. get to watch anything other than Spongebob? Why does it have to be a matter of what’s “more important”? How about junior not being the only important person in the world? Yeeeeeeeeees, I know it’s been said already that when you’re a parent, your kid’s needs are so very very important to you, but how about being concerned about his need to someday function in the real world?

My mom was and is a news junkie. I was born in 1970, and between 1970 and 1975, there was a lot going on in the news. Now, I got my quota of Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rogers, but not at the expense of my mom’s nightly-news fix. And I happen to think that was very beneficial for me. If she had abruptly switched channels in the middle of one of my shows, that’d be one thing, but instead, I got Muppets and talking heads, and I was just as soothed by the sound of one of those old-school teletype machines as I was by Fred Rogers’ voice. Would you believe my first celebrity crush was Chuck Scarborough?

I’m thirty-six years old, ohne kinder. Up to now, I’ve merely been okay with that. Now, reading this thread, I’m feeling like I escaped from death row.

[Hamadryad]

@nyctea scandiaca

Um, what the heck are you talking about? I never said the children inconvenienced me. I was responding to Quint who said that parents who act like assholes do it “to piss you off. Not because they consider their children the centre of the universe, but because they’re exhasted, pissed off, and the world is going to pay.” I said that if their job as a parent is so incredibly hard that they end up being so exhausted and pissed off that they want to piss everyone else off, that maybe they should have thought twice about having kids.

And I wondered aloud if there was any parent anywhere who would say, post-child, that they had, indeed, known exactly what they were getting into.

What the hell is this “child-hater” business? Where have I ever said I hate children? I like children a lot. It’s stupid parents (like the ones in the OP) that I do not like. A child’s behavior - good or bad - is usually reflection on their parents and their parenting skills/methods.

Okay. Active disliker of imperfect parents and unqualified expert in child-rearing.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

You have a good point (except for the Sponge Bob bit, seriously if mummy’s programme is more important then kid’s programe then mummy has issues)

If an parent doesn’t have the spine to take the remote and turn the channel to some adult programming once in a while, then that parent has issues. In my house, if daddy wants to watch something. Daddy watches it. Full stop. I’m not going to have arguments with a 6 year old about it.

[calm_kiwi]

@Rilchiam

Oh, come on! Are you honestly saying that mommy does. not. ever. get to watch anything other than Spongebob? Why does it have to be a matter of what’s “more important”? How about junior not being the only important person in the world? Yeeeeeeeeees, I know it’s been said already that when you’re a parent, your kid’s needs are so very very important to you, but how about being concerned about his need to someday function in the real world?

My mom was and is a news junkie. I was born in 1970, and between 1970 and 1975, there was a lot going on in the news. Now, I got my quota of Sesame Street, Electric Company and Mr. Rogers, but not at the expense of my mom’s nightly-news fix. And I happen to think that was very beneficial for me. If she had abruptly switched channels in the middle of one of my shows, that’d be one thing, but instead, I got Muppets and talking heads, and I was just as soothed by the sound of one of those old-school teletype machines as I was by Fred Rogers’ voice. Would you believe my first celebrity crush was Chuck Scarborough?

I’m thirty-six years old, ohne kinder. Up to now, I’ve merely been okay with that. Now, reading this thread, I’m feeling like I escaped from death row.

I am now and will forever be a news junkie. In my part of the world MY watching the news never meant the child’s cartoon was missed. It meant that during cartoon time I did somethng else, during the 6 o’clock news he child watched the news. Your mother was right! My child was deeply addicted to a radio talk back person from the age of six.

Should the child want to watch the 900th repeat of Friends at news time he would be out of luck. Should I want to watch something during “his” tv time ( soap opera?, random crap?) then I would be out of order. It is all about respecting each other (and about hoping the child gets as much from watching the news as I do…so we both win!).

[fessie]

@Diogenes the Cynic

If an parent doesn’t have the spine to take the remote and turn the channel to some adult programming once in a while, then that parent has issues. In my house, if daddy wants to watch something. Daddy watches it. Full stop. I’m not going to have arguments with a 6 year old about it.

Yeah, and Daddy gets the big piece of chicken, too. (can’t remember if that was Eddie Murphy or who).

That “Stockholm Syndrome” was fascinating, Quint, I’m sending links to my mommy friends.

Just thought the participants gathered here might be interested to know that Miss Manners weighed in on (an aspect of) the subject a couple of days ago. I think this sums it up well -

@Miss Manners

When parents decide it is easier for them to relax when they are not riding herd on their children, other people decide that it is easier on them simply to ban all children.

[Guinastasia]

@fessie

Yeah, and Daddy gets the big piece of chicken, too. (can’t remember if that was Eddie Murphy or who).

Chris Rock, IIRC.

And I watched my cartoons when I was a kid, but I also watched soap operas with my mom. When I was three years old, I could have told you every plotline of Guiding Light in detail.

[Hamadryad]

@Guinastasia

When I was three years old, I could have told you every plotline of Guiding Light in detail.

Dude. That is child abuse right there. Guiding Light? WHATever. It stopped being good after Roger died the first time.

[Cartooniverse]

@nyctea scandiaca

If they’re old enough/smart enough to devise a system to escape from their playpen, then I am sure they are old enough/smart enough to be taught proper behavior and the consequences for not behaving.

Hell, if they’re that smart, they ought to already be registered for a spot in Kindergarden at The Dalton School !!! ( Or, Fieldston. Whichever. )