Publications
I try not to judge other parents. It’s wrong and it’s unfair and I hate it when others do it to me. But truly, some parents cry out for a good smacking. Like the ones who take their toddler out of the car on the road side and leave the child prancing around in the traffic while mom organises her handbag. Grrr. Drives me bonkers. Is basic road safety too complex to grasp? Is it too inconvenient to walk around the car? Or do they just not want dirty feet clambering over their upholstery?
Then there are the parents who are late for school, every day. Their child will be in trouble constantly because the parentals can’t get organised 10 minutes earlier, but no matter. “It’s just such a hassle” is the constant refrain.
Or the ones sitting behind you who insist on chatting throughout the entire music recital, not caring that it’s a really big deal for the children. Spoiling it for everybody, because they don’t get it. If it’s not important to them, then it doesn’t count. To this unpleasant faction, everything is an aggravation, and they don’t hesitate to let their offspring know this. Their time is more important than anybody else’s and ordinary rules of respect and polite behaviour don’t apply to them, because they’re special. Of course, you can imagine how this delightful demeanour rubs off on their children. Not that they will ever see the connection – heavens no!
They seem to see their children as an extension of themselves, like an extra arm or Paris Hilton Doggy-Inna-Bag. Not as separate human beings with feelings and needs as valid as their own, but trendy accessories to be displayed when convenient and packed away when they get boring. Very quick to take the credit when Junior excels, and even faster to lay blame when he messes up. They get all flustered and offended when their third arm fails to behave as they think it should, with no clue as to how it happened.
For these charming parents, everything is about me, me, me. And if it has to be about you, I’ll try and make it about me anyway. Early on, they insist loudly that baby will not change their life and will effortlessly fall in with mommy’s own routine. This, as any ordinary mother will attest, is a load of hooey. Children do change your life; inexorably, forever and for the better, if you let them.
It doesn’t mean you become a martyr to your offspring’s every whim. You both have to learn to respect what is important to the other. And you should be willing to admit that the Me-Show has been canned, for now at least. Just deal with it.
It’s about Junior now, and you’ll be making guest appearances on his own version of the show from now on. Make your performances good ones. You’ll both be watching those reruns for the rest of your lives.
Then there are the parents who are late for school, every day. Their child will be in trouble constantly because the parentals can’t get organised 10 minutes earlier, but no matter. “It’s just such a hassle” is the constant refrain.
Or the ones sitting behind you who insist on chatting throughout the entire music recital, not caring that it’s a really big deal for the children. Spoiling it for everybody, because they don’t get it. If it’s not important to them, then it doesn’t count. To this unpleasant faction, everything is an aggravation, and they don’t hesitate to let their offspring know this. Their time is more important than anybody else’s and ordinary rules of respect and polite behaviour don’t apply to them, because they’re special. Of course, you can imagine how this delightful demeanour rubs off on their children. Not that they will ever see the connection – heavens no!
They seem to see their children as an extension of themselves, like an extra arm or Paris Hilton Doggy-Inna-Bag. Not as separate human beings with feelings and needs as valid as their own, but trendy accessories to be displayed when convenient and packed away when they get boring. Very quick to take the credit when Junior excels, and even faster to lay blame when he messes up. They get all flustered and offended when their third arm fails to behave as they think it should, with no clue as to how it happened.
For these charming parents, everything is about me, me, me. And if it has to be about you, I’ll try and make it about me anyway. Early on, they insist loudly that baby will not change their life and will effortlessly fall in with mommy’s own routine. This, as any ordinary mother will attest, is a load of hooey. Children do change your life; inexorably, forever and for the better, if you let them.
It doesn’t mean you become a martyr to your offspring’s every whim. You both have to learn to respect what is important to the other. And you should be willing to admit that the Me-Show has been canned, for now at least. Just deal with it.
It’s about Junior now, and you’ll be making guest appearances on his own version of the show from now on. Make your performances good ones. You’ll both be watching those reruns for the rest of your lives.
