Once you have children, it is never, ever all about you again. You are the role model for your child. You are the teacher for your child. Your job has become to grow a little human being to the point of successful release into the universe with all of the skills you could possible have imparted on them for a positive and rewarding life. Your job is to make them welcome in the world by bringing them from their narcissistic little selves to well behaved, well rounded, well educated humans that no longer feel entitled to everything they demand simply because they demand it. If you are incapable of doing that, choose not to do that, or simply do not want to do that, then hire someone that will or don’t have children. Courtesy and manners are massive parts in all of this.
If your child keeps kicking the back of my seat on the plane and I turn around and look at you, the proper response is NOT to stare me down. The proper response is to stop the behavior immediately and be humiliated and apologetic. Sad you failed to teach your child such behavior is not acceptable before this, but it not my responsibility to suffer your failure. You failed to teach your child to be respectful/courteous to and of others. If you ruin my flight with your shoddy parenting, you should pay for my flight. If your child is running around the restaurant bothering diners, trust me, it is not cute. It is rude, showing a total lack of basic manners and courtesy in public. It is a child that has parents unable to control him/her and they have chosen to visit their blindly inept parenting upon the rest of us. I believe those parents should have to pay for dinner for all diners in the restaurant when they allow their child run around like animals. I believe if that was the rule, parents would keep a close handle on their children, or would leave them home to grossly misbehave toward staff paid for that purpose. This is not to say that there are not circumstances where certain poor behavior on a child’s part can be understandable, but there is no excuse for a parent’s behavior to be poor toward teaching a child proper manners.
The concept of proper parenting is simple, effectuating it seems to be the issue. Children mimic their parents’ behavior. If you punch things, your child will think punching things is acceptable behavior. It is not. If you are discourteous to those around you, rude to those around you, cruel to those around you and behave the same way toward your child you have taught your child this is appropriate behavior. It is not. If you allow your three year old to eat with their hands because it is simply easier in your harried life, you have taught this child that eating like an animal can be acceptable. It is not. So why are so many parents not teaching their children to behave in a way that welcomes polite, well mannered children into society? What has happened to parenting and how can we fix it?
courtesy and life 