My two cents...

I'm not a parent. And for those of you who are parents and read this, I know I am not a parent, this is just my opinion and I highly doubt it will change when I do have children but who knows.

Today at the park this little boy was being very mean to Karis and it was making me so angry. What was making me even more upset was that his mom could absolutely care less. The first instance where he was mean was when he was playing in this toy car and Karis went to try and play with him and got on the back of the car, the boy turned around and yelled, "Hey! Get off! I do NOT want to play with you!" Kids will be kids. Karis just looked at me with a hurt face, and I told her that it was ok, there were plenty of kids who did want to play with her so we moved away from the situation. The second encounter with this boy was while Karis was swinging. She fell from the swing, and he came running over and while she was getting back on it, he pushed her out of the way and said it was his swing and she needed to move. I had been watching this kid since the first incident and this seemed to be his typical behavior. But it just blows my mind that his mother was watching this and letting him act this way. DISCIPLINE YOUR CHILD! Or at least teach them manners! My goodness, it's watching kids like this on the playground that make me cringe to think about having in my future classroom. Karis was her typical sweet self and simply moved out of the way and asked if she could have a turn next. Well, I bent down to her, which just so happened to be right next to him and within earshot of his mother and said, "You know what, it is so nice of you to let him have a turn on the swing. You really know what it means to be nice and I am really proud of your manners. You set such a good example for other kids!" And we walked off to go slide. I know that there are SO many things that I will eat my words on the 1,000's of "I will never as a parent... or My child will never..." but my child will not be a jerk. Period. Why? Because they will be taught how to treat others and what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Do kids act out at times? Sure! Are preschooler's going to say mean things to other kids at times? You can probably count on it! But you better believe that I will make sure that behavior does not repeat itself on a regular basis! Anyway...just a little rant from today's outings...sorry to be so lengthy!