Recently, I have such a hard time figuring out what I wanted to write a post about. I have many thoughts, but none of them have rounded out to becoming a post. I have been reading the news, and haven't found anything good to write about....until now. MSNBC is running a story about a restaurant owner who has put a sign in his window stating: Children of all ages have to behave and use their indoor voices when they come to A Taste of Heaven.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10338070/
Before I go on, let me state that I like kids. I do not have any kids, but I babysat a lot when I was growing up. Those experiences helped me learn a great deal on how different kids behave.
There is nothing worse than when a parent allows their child to cry, scream, and throw tantrums in public places. I find this behavior appalling and completely selfish on the parent’s part. I know that there are many people that would disagree with me, stating that children are volatile and can be contained as well as a volcano. The reason that I do not agree with this is because I have friends that are parents and can take their children to public places without the children causing any havoc. These parents are the one’s that take time out of their schedules, which are busy as other parents, and teaching their children the importance of discipline as well as what is acceptable and what is not. I am a firm believer that a well-disciplined child will in turn be a well-behaved child.
For this case, I side with the sign in the window. I can recall many times being in different restaurants, trying to enjoy my meal, when all of a sudden a child starts screaming. In these situations, the parents have a few choices on how to react:
a.) Talk to the child in a stern voice. If this does not cause the situation to stop, move the child to a different location (i.e. bathroom) and continue the conversation…although I am not opposed to spanking a child, I do not think this is an appropriate location to carry this type of discipline out.
b.) Yell at them to shut up.
c.) Ignore them and hope they will quiet down.
Unfortunately, in most cases I see a combination of ‘b’ and ‘c’. I understand that children can be difficult, but to yell at or ignore them is not the answer. I believe that inconsistent discipline will spur on consistent misbehavior, as well as consistent discipline will foster children who are well-behaved.
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3 comments:
Option (d) is to sell your child to a glue factory and reap the sweet, sweet profits.
In any event, the store owner is justified in putting whatever restrictions on their patrons as is lawful and they deem appropriate. A few years ago, a chain of movie theaters around here started enforcing a law that makes it so children under 6 can't be admitted to 'R' rated movies after 6:00PM. They decided to take the side of patrons without children, who want a decent movie-going experience. I think, this was a great decision.
Similar thing with this restaurant, only they're being more lenient. They're not saying, "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED" they're just saying that a parent cannot allow their children's behavior to disrupt the meals of the other patrons who paid money to eat there.
The other aspect of this MSNBC article I love, is how our country's priorities are so fucked up when people deem stories about a sign in a restaurant’s window deserves so much attention. What war? What earthquakes? What suicide bombers? Huh???
I'm with the option (d) but I don't think a glue factory exist that takes children. However, I know a great shark chum factory in South Carolina that really pays premium for young fatties.
I was a young fatty, I can tell you that the world would be a better place had I been turned into a steaming bucket of chum. Point of fact, I have a darling picture of my sister holding me as a baby: A smiling girl, missing her two front teeth, holding a frowning, three-chinned blob of a child. My mother wrote, "Shoulda been chum" on the back of the picture. Never made sense till now...
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