Mom drops off arguing kids - good or bad?

[where]

Depends on the ten year old.

Whether or not she'd make it depends on who is on the streets.

The main issue is not whether or not the kid can handle it. This is a parent who clearly can't handle kids. Not in a sane manner.

She makes threats she can't or shouldn't carry out, for one thing.

OK, well if it's a kid who never leaves the house maybe. But for gods sake, 3 miles from home? I used to walk, run and ride 15 miles from home at 10

 

[Delicacy]

When I was a kid, "wait till your father comes did it for me" and no He never hit us the threat was enough.

When I was a kid, my mom walking in and drumming her wooden spoon on the palm of her hand did it for us.

Beware of The Beholder of the Wooden Spoon!

 

[Recidiva]

If they were that so far cushioned that the slightest gust of wind would break them, then they need a better sense of home community awareness and that mother needs to enforce a sea change in their upbringing and her parenting.

The dropping off was wrong, boneheaded move. Still, when I was that age and even younger, I was walking farther than that coming home after school in the inner city where it was liable for me to get jacked or even worse. White Plains is the kind of area you can go trick or treating in and not worry about people putting needles in the candy bars for yuks. Those girls should know their home surroundings from a better perspective than the backseat of an SUV.

"Those girls should know" really only goes as far as a parent can teach.

Yes, a good parent builds up a child's ability to do things. If you teach a child to swim, you start out in the shallow end of the pool and you watch and you supervise and you STILL have a lifeguard for emergencies.

Doesn't matter whether or not the kid is an Olympic swimmer, lack of supervision is irresponsibility.

 

[richard_daily]

Yeah, yeah, I know. She's a horrible Mom etc. But... when I was a kid three miles wasn't that far to walk home from.

Does this justify her losing contact with her children? Does it depend on the neighborhood she dumped them out in, whether they knew their way home or not and the time of day?

What are your thoughts on this?

(link to entire article... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517437,00.html )

Good for her for following through...

I think that charging her with a crime is fucking ridiculous.

 

[Recidiva]

OK, well if it's a kid who never leaves the house maybe. But for gods sake, 3 miles from home? I used to walk, run and ride 15 miles from home at 10

Good for you. Theoretically your parents prepared you for this and that's why you were able to do it.

Again, it depends on the three miles. It also depends on whether or not the kids had decent walking shoes.

 

[Recidiva]

Good for her for following through...

I think that charging her with a crime is fucking ridiculous.

Following through on a ridiculous threat is not a virtue.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

well good luck. i hear after the first kid is raped it gets easier.

Gaaawd you are so bad...

 

[koalabear]

OK, well if it's a kid who never leaves the house maybe. But for gods sake, 3 miles from home? I used to walk, run and ride 15 miles from home at 10

uphill, both ways.

 

[Sonny Limatina]

OK, well if it's a kid who never leaves the house maybe. But for gods sake, 3 miles from home? I used to walk, run and ride 15 miles from home at 10

TRB, these responses are almost never about the thing that happened. They are almost about the responders themselves.

"The lady doth protest too much" and all that.

 

[richard_daily]

Following through on a ridiculous threat is not a virtue.

Let me elaborate:
I think it was a stupid thing to say.. and threatening your kids is really not very good discipline... But making your kids walk home as punishment is HARDLY something that someone should be arrested over.

 

[bronzeage]

Depends on the ten year old.

Whether or not she'd make it depends on who is on the streets.

The main issue is not whether or not the kid can handle it. This is a parent who clearly can't handle kids. Not in a sane manner.

She makes threats she can't or shouldn't carry out, for one thing.

Thank you.

 

[where]

Good for you. Theoretically your parents prepared you for this and that's why you were able to do it.

Again, it depends on the three miles. It also depends on whether or not the kids had decent walking shoes.

so it comes down to what I said before about the infantilisation of society

TRB, these responses are almost never about the thing that happened. They are almost about the responders themselves.

"The lady doth protest too much" and all that.

yeah yeah yeah... call social services on me for making my kids grow into independent adults

Let me elaborate:
I think it was a stupid thing to say.. and threatening your kids is really not very good discipline... But making your kids walk home as punishment is HARDLY something that someone should be arrested over.

I agree. there is also the possibility that the kids were just SO spoiled and brattish, and SUCH bullies, that mum just finally snapped.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

OK, well if it's a kid who never leaves the house maybe. But for gods sake, 3 miles from home? I used to walk, run and ride 15 miles from home at 10

You know? I know people make use of privilege according to income and it's a scarier world out there for going outside to play as a kid, but damn. We're going to become like the humans on the automat spaceship in Wall-E sooner than we think.

"Those girls should know" really only goes as far as a parent can teach.

Yes, a good parent builds up a child's ability to do things. If you teach a child to swim, you start out in the shallow end of the pool and you watch and you supervise and you STILL have a lifeguard for emergencies.

Doesn't matter whether or not the kid is an Olympic swimmer, lack of supervision is irresponsibility.

I'm happy those girls didn't get hurt or accosted, for real. But since nothing happens by accident and we don't live in vacuums, this was a wake-the-fuck-up call for that family. Maybe when the shit settles back down, they can put down the PSPs, push away the take-home work, turn off the TV and go do some occasional mother-daughter walkabouts in the neighborhood on a good day.

 

[Recidiva]

so it comes down to what I said before about the infantilisation of society

yeah yeah yeah... call social services on me for making my kids grow into independent adults

Congratulations! You're taking a stand on infantilization of parents instead.

Be proud.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

Gaaawd you are so bad...

Ain't he, though?
I emailed that to my wife at her office and she's still laughing.

She and I are both writing responses to this thread - the funnier ones are her.

Man, there's some scary stupid going on in here...

 

[Sharon_]

"Those girls should know" really only goes as far as a parent can teach.

Yes, a good parent builds up a child's ability to do things. If you teach a child to swim, you start out in the shallow end of the pool and you watch and you supervise and you STILL have a lifeguard for emergencies.

Well doesn't THAT just suck all the fun out Ye Olde Swimmin' Hole?

The rules are: if you can't swim, don't get in water over your head (or water where you can't see the bottom)

But other than that, the only rule I ever heard of was "NEVER go swimming alone"...not "never go swimming without a lifeguard or adult supervision".

Now, swimmin' holes of course have their own little rules like, beware of the snapping turtles and if you *insist* on swimmin' where people fish then pack a pocket knife in case you get tangled in some old submerged fishing line cuz that stuff sticks around forever.

 

[paganangel]

given that most kids are sexually abused by someone close to them, maybe we should have them all living with strangers.

You really are a bit of a... god... first time ever using the word on here... retard

nonsequiter.

 

[Recidiva]

I'm happy those girls didn't get hurt or accosted, for real. But since nothing happens by accident and we don't live in vacuums, this was a wake-the-fuck-up call for that family. Maybe when the shit settles back down, they can put down the PSPs, push away the take-home work, turn off the TV and go do some occasional mother-daughter walkabouts in the neighborhood on a good day.

Nothing happens by accident?

What the fuck world do you live in?

 

[Sonny Limatina]

yeah yeah yeah... call social services on me for making my kids grow into independent adults

Exactly. "I have made my own mistakes, and if I show enough moral outrage about yours, perhaps I can divert attention from my own."

We were independent kids, in a half-good half-bad area. You knew where to go and not go. I rode a bike to school five miles away every day from just about the time I could ride a bike. Mom showed me the way, drove behind me the first day to make sure I got it right, and trusted me to get there.

She made some mistakes with us (see my highway story above), but allowing us to be cautiously and informedly independent was not one of them.

 

[paganangel]

jesus christ people.

this isn't about distance or the neighborhood.

what is a ten year-old's greatest fear?

 

[Sonny Limatina]

jesus christ people.

this isn't about distance or the neighborhood.

what is a ten year-old's greatest fear?

Finding out the Jonas Brothers are all gay?

 

[Le Jacquelope]

jesus christ people.

this isn't about distance or the neighborhood.

what is a ten year-old's greatest fear?

Thank God the authorities agree with you and not Kybele.

 

[where]

Congratulations! You're taking a stand on infantilization of parents instead.

Be proud.

actually I am proud of them. They have spent most of their lives in hicksville but when they went to London, they were not in the least bit phased. They have roamed far and wide in their home area and learned to be responsible. I still fret and worry about them, but less so than if they had spent their lives in cotton wool.

 

[where]

nonsequiter.

wow... first witty thing you posted all night, even if it was a set up

 

[Recidiva]

Well doesn't THAT just suck all the fun out Ye Olde Swimmin' Hole?

The rules are: if you can't swim, don't get in water over your head (or water where you can't see the bottom)

But other than that, the only rule I ever heard of was "NEVER go swimming alone"...not "never go swimming without a lifeguard or adult supervision".

Now, swimmin' holes of course have their own little rules like, beware of the snapping turtles and if you *insist* on swimmin' where people fish then pack a pocket knife in case you get tangled in some old submerged fishing line cuz that stuff sticks around forever.

I spent summers at that fishing hole. Kids ran wild. I was fine.

However, nobody really talks about the four or five kids who end up paralyzed or dead or wheelchair ridden because they wanted to take that jump into the lake from that swing that wasn't all there, or messed around jumping stupid things with their bikes, motor or otherwise.

I grew up around a lot of unsupervised kids. Not all of them made it, even in an entirely criminal-free area. Kids find ways to do stupid things.

If you don't know three or four kids who didn't make it, lucky you.