Bad Kid

Super Nanny is so fun to watch because 9 times out of 10 the parents call in Nanny Jo to “Fix” their kids, not realizing that the only fixing that needs to be done is the parenting. Red faced and exhausted mom’s and dads are usually shocked and offended to be told that their children are not actually monsters; on the contrary it is entirely the parents’ fault that the children are ACTING like monsters.

Discipline is what she teaches, children need to know their boundaries otherwise they will grow up to be spoiled obnoxious adults after they have spent their childhood annoying everyone within banshee scream radius. I am sure you know what I am talking about; the piercing, nails on a chalk board, blood pressure raising scream children use to be noticed. You know the kind that often blasts out of the face of an ignored child who is not being taught words to use.

Of course those who know me know that by discipline I don’t mean smacking the hell out of a child’s behind in public to prove you are a good parent. On the contrary calling attention to it and screaming back is a good sign of Parenting Fail.

I realize that I don’t have kids and some might accuse me of choosing the wrong subject to get on my high horse about, but this horse needed to be ridden today after the terror that was The Ultimate Bad Kid in our office. This kid was like if Chucky had a baby with Raegan (of The Exorcist fame) and was raised by screech owls in a cave.

Prospective students come in to Brown Mackie College to sit with myself or my coworkers and discuss their interest in college. Sometimes these students bring their children, and some times we giggle and play with the little darlings while their parents sign up for school. That was NOT the case today. Today my coworker had a banshee. A 2.5 year old banshee who by his age should have words and should know what the word “No” means. The one and only time that his mother looked up from the desk after the child terrorized the office for an hour was when finally one of my coworkers (Thanks, Metika) had enough and made the lady keep him in the cubicle. The clueless mom giggled (news flash lady, we DON’T think it’s cute) and held him by the arm. To this he cried, screamed, pulled her hair and fought to escape…what did she do? Well what she didn’t do was discipline him. She coddled him, told him “it is ok” and hugged him.

This is a perfect example of someone who expects society, friends, family, and trapped admissions officers to take care of their children for them. Not once did she apologize, not once did she look up when we were fussing at him about “drop the THUMB TACK’s” and “quit pulling the dirt out of the potted plant.” When asked who would watch the little demon (not his fault but he is a demon none the less) while she was in school, she replied that she had a number of people who are willing to “take my kid.”

Regarding a past employment dismissal I overheard her state “I told him, ‘you don’t have kids so you don’t understand.’” There are so many things wrong with that statement I don’t know where to begin. First of all, what if that person had tried and tried to have kids and you just poured rock salt in the wound of your BOSS? Secondly, just because you “have kids” doesn’t mean that rules at work don’t apply to you. That was your choice to get pregnant (even if it was a mistake you didn’t accidentally have sex) so you have to deal with the consequences and either take responsibility for raising another human or look into adoption. Thirdly, having kids at home doesn’t mean that your free time or personal life is more important than that of those who don’t.

Not only is it concerning that this woman’s child is disturbing an entire office full of people and she doesn’t care; it is pitiful that he was running around through the building with no one watching him. He could be hurt (again on things like THUMB TACKS) or worse. If this child were kidnapped, God forbid, then you can take a good guess who she would blame for that. We are not a day care, society is not a school and strangers should not have to tell your kid “no.” It was like trying to babysit Jack Jack from The Incredibles; I am pretty sure this kid burst into flames a few times.

Finally, if my sweet nephew cries when I watch him then my sister apologizes like fourteen times, even though she doesn’t need to. Wouldn’t you consider apologizing ONCE to an office full of ticked off strangers (who are ON THE PHONE for a living) for the fact that your Tasmanian Devil disrupted an hour and a half of their day? I sure would and then I would rethink my whole life.