A thought for Mother's Day
Sooo...to get right to the point, has anyone else noticed that most parents are really mean to their kids?
Today, in two separate public situations, I witnessed a mother talking to her child in such an inappropriate way that it made me, an unnoticed fly-on-the-wall observer, totally embarrassed. Whatever happened to the golden rule? Shouldn't "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" apply to everyone, parents and children (and human beings in general, for that matter) alike? I've heard people complain (and rightly so) that kids these days have no respect for adults, that they're rude and spoiled, and that they're apathetic and care about nothing more than who's texting them or what songs their cell phones play or how many friends they have on their myspace account (again, another topic for another day). Of course, this is a generalization for both parents and kids; I know of some awesome parents with equally awesome kids. But to me, it seems like the bad outweighs the good, as negative as that sounds. As played out as this idea is, kids ARE the next generation, our future; how can we expect them to be anything but mean, fat, unresourceful, disrespectful, lazy adults when that's the example set for them by their parents? Now, I'm not a parent yet, so maybe I have no business whatsoever running my mouth about how people should raise their kids. But I do plan on having children of my own, and I think that just as it is important to think about what kind of parent you want to be, and what kind of world you want your child to live in, it's equally important to realize what NOT to do, even if you're faced with examples of the latter on a day to day basis. So my suggestion to all parents, and all people, for that matter, is to just make being nice the tipping point. That's it. Just be nice to your kids! Be nice to other people! It sounds simple enough, but I understand that when you're having a bad day and you've just sat through hours of traffic and you have to carry a bunch of crap up to your apartment and you're tired and hungry and hot, sometimes being nice can be really tough. But just take a deep breath, count to ten if you have to, and be nice. Be nice to your kids, be nice to your spouse, be nice to your siblings, friends, acquaintences, coworkers, in-laws, relatives, the barista at Starbucks, the guy in the gas-guzzler who just cut you off, the person in the parking lot who begs for change, etc, etc, etc. If you change nothing else in your life, change how you treat other people--just be nice.
Today, in two separate public situations, I witnessed a mother talking to her child in such an inappropriate way that it made me, an unnoticed fly-on-the-wall observer, totally embarrassed. Whatever happened to the golden rule? Shouldn't "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" apply to everyone, parents and children (and human beings in general, for that matter) alike? I've heard people complain (and rightly so) that kids these days have no respect for adults, that they're rude and spoiled, and that they're apathetic and care about nothing more than who's texting them or what songs their cell phones play or how many friends they have on their myspace account (again, another topic for another day). Of course, this is a generalization for both parents and kids; I know of some awesome parents with equally awesome kids. But to me, it seems like the bad outweighs the good, as negative as that sounds. As played out as this idea is, kids ARE the next generation, our future; how can we expect them to be anything but mean, fat, unresourceful, disrespectful, lazy adults when that's the example set for them by their parents? Now, I'm not a parent yet, so maybe I have no business whatsoever running my mouth about how people should raise their kids. But I do plan on having children of my own, and I think that just as it is important to think about what kind of parent you want to be, and what kind of world you want your child to live in, it's equally important to realize what NOT to do, even if you're faced with examples of the latter on a day to day basis. So my suggestion to all parents, and all people, for that matter, is to just make being nice the tipping point. That's it. Just be nice to your kids! Be nice to other people! It sounds simple enough, but I understand that when you're having a bad day and you've just sat through hours of traffic and you have to carry a bunch of crap up to your apartment and you're tired and hungry and hot, sometimes being nice can be really tough. But just take a deep breath, count to ten if you have to, and be nice. Be nice to your kids, be nice to your spouse, be nice to your siblings, friends, acquaintences, coworkers, in-laws, relatives, the barista at Starbucks, the guy in the gas-guzzler who just cut you off, the person in the parking lot who begs for change, etc, etc, etc. If you change nothing else in your life, change how you treat other people--just be nice.