Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Random musing of the day

You know what irritates me? Going to the store and seeing a stroller with a 5 year-old in it. The kid can obviously walk but for some reason the parent(s) allow him to be pushed around like a baby.

The only thing worse is if the kid has a pacifier in his/her mouth.

So please, if that's you, stop damaging your child. Take the pacifier, kick him out of the stroller and make him walk like a big boy. In fact, to make up for the years of pampering you should probably make him carry a backpack with a rock in it and occasionaly make him stop and do push-ups.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen!

Ric said...

That 5 yr old might still be breast feeding.

I don't get it, but there is a movement to do that until school.

(I'd post a link by the nanny filters at work will block the search)

Anonymous said...

The parents should also send the kid to summer camp at Parris Island

Anonymous said...

Insensitive beasts!!

You won't be invited to any more parenting workshops dealing with "Issue Resolving."

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the "Chuckle" of the day. I agree, I do sometimes see this, "Parents" with kids 5, 6, 7 or 8 years old being chauffeured around in strollers or shopping carts. Or if the kid is too big for the seat in the cart, the kid is riding in the cart. Geez, between shoving McDonalds in their faces everyday and sparing them from the "Hardship" of walking on their own two feet, no wonder we have plump kids.

Anonymous said...

Before you judge too quickly maybe there is a reason for a child that age to be pushed around in a stroller. My daughter has CP and can not walk on her own she was pushed in a stroller until she could not fit in one because it was much easier to transport than a wheelchair. She also looked normal to people passing by.

Please don't judge a book by the cover make sure before you judge you have all of the facts.

Scottiebill said...

Anon 12:29 has a point. However, there are a great deal more kids without a debilitating disease, such as CP, that are riding around in their parents' shopping carts when they could, and more likely, should be walking beside them.

Another thought as to why these kids are riding in the carts: If they were out of the carts they would likely be running all through the store playing tag, running into other customers, knocking down end-of-aisle displays (as my wife and I saw at a Fred Meyer a few days ago), and making general nuisances of themselves. Maybe the shopping cart ride is a way of controlling the little brats.

BEAR said...

hooray for liberal parenting.....not.

Anonymous said...

Please don't judge. My 4 year old son has autism, and luckily he's high functioning enough that grocery store visits aren't too bad anymore. But just a year ago he'd be running the aisle, screaming. Not because he was bad, but because he has autism. You'd never know this just walking by us. However he still sits in a cart, it makes the shopping experience much nicer for all.

I know plenty of parents with children older than mine, who have more severe autism that need to latch their child into a cart or stroller, and the pacifiers or chew toys keep them centered while going through the store. Often the lights, noises, smells ect are overwhelming to these kids.

I too used to balk at this, having two older children, but now that I have a disabled child my eyes have been opened.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with Anonymous that has the 4 year old with autism. I have two sons with autism issues. The younger one still likes to ride in the cart at age 8. Most of the time we make him walk since he can handle it now without going crazy. A couple of years ago he would go nuts if he didn't ride because children with this condition need to have structure in their lives. Anything that is different than their normal routine is very disturbing to them. My son started out riding in carts at the store so that is where he feels safe and comfortable.
Sometimes there is much more going on in a situation than what the casual observer can see.

Anonymous said...

I don't care who you are, that's funny.

Anonymous said...

http://tinyurl.com/y5378g

Heh.

Anonymous said...

I'm shocked that it took 8 posts before some dipshit (Bear) attributed this "problem" to liberals.

It's also funny that Daniel was recently pissing and moaning about the government getting involved in childrearing, but has his g-string in a bunch over seeing a five year old in a stroller and advocates one person getting involved in another person's business (i.e., criticizing how they decide to raise their kids). I thought that was a private decision.

Keep the offensive snap judgments coming, though, Danny-girl. Are you angling for some career in stand-up seeing how your career as a "blogger" is going nowhere (Vote Saxton!)? Irony is so entertaining.

Anonymous said...

I have a 39 inch tall 2 year old son with partial hearing. Because he's slender, and has a well-defined facial structure, people regularly think he's 5 years old. Frankly, we keep him in a stroller or shopping cart as long as he can stand it, because as soon as he's out, he's off for who-knows-where and we spend the rest of the trip chasing him.

Sometimes, you just don't know.

Daniel said...

Obviously medical neccessity is a very valid reason for an older child being in a stroller.

My point is that it seems that more and more parents allow their children to become soft. No dodgeball at school and no having to walk through the mall is not helping children.

Anonymous said...

Frankly, kids need more exercise, and they need to be beat up at school a bit more. Toughen them up a bit.

Now, it's all "sensitivity" training.

Screw that. The only sensitivity I want to hear about is the sensitivity of that other kid's jaw after my son defends himself and kicks the crud out of him.

Anonymous said...

Daniel, I agree totally that kids are being completely wimped-over in this day and age. I'm just not sure that extra stroller time has much to do with it.

I think 99% of it is the combination of decades of successful scare that news has foisted off on us for ratings that any child outside is going to be on a milk carton within 3 hours, and the number of families where both parents have to work so children spend their time in professional play environments where soft and safe is the name of the day.

And yeah... it HAS become dangerous for a kid who plays outside alone every day... but the reason it's dangerous is that the one out of ten million child abuser/abductor who is prowling around out there no longer has millions of children to pick from, just the scant few who still roam alone.

Anonymous said...

I miss the good old days when misbehaving children could be safely locked in the attic and housewives were too busy cooking, cleaning, and ironing to waste time taking kids to stores.

Ric said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ric said...

When I was little, not quite old enough to remember JFK's assassination, my parents used a leash, er what ever is a PC term.
I appreciate that kids can be a challenge in the store. But, they have to learn social convention.

Why do some behave when others will not?

I respect that some kids will just never get it.

But I have to wonder, if they are like this in the store, how do they behave at school - especially without recess or pe?

Anonymous said...

sniper - meet me on the playground, tough-guy. I'd like to toughen up YOUR jaw a little bit. Glad to know that as I teach my boys to solve their problems in ways other than fighting (I toughen them up by encouraging them to play football and other physical sports), that there are numbskulls like you out there who encourage it. I'd love to beat your ass, but I've got to serve as a role model for my kids.

Ric said...

Shopping without carts -
Would cut down on kids running around, but would Daniel now feel the parents were too lazy? ;-)

via Gizmodo
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/clips/lollercoaster-crazy-chinese-rollercoaster-supermarket-217833.php

or
http://www.youtube.com/v/ZL5jOGUN_Ms

Anonymous said...

Wow, anonymous is making Sniper's point about self-defense...