Letters to the Editor
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My children are sooo nice!
They are well behaved -
WHEN THEIR DAD IS AROUND!!! When their un-PC parental unit is nearby to smack them on the arm or tell them "quit eating like a little pig", they are really good.
Left alone with me???? Well, let's just say that I valued their self-esteem so much, that by the time they were 5 or 6, they had my number.
Yours,
Stupid Mom
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Howard K and Earl E get it!
Right on, brothers. Testify! It's about time that these crappy, feel-good, drippy little wimpy "parents" got put in their place.
We recognize the truth - that every single time some bratty little not-quite-yet-a-person dares to push me (ME!) out of my God-given right to a peaceful reverie in a public place, it's clearly and obviously a case of bad parenting.
Why isn't this better reported? You almost never hear childless heroes railing valiantly to protect their God-given right to remain unannoyed in a public place!
You know what else I hate? Freakin' slow drivers. Look, granny, if you don't feel comfortable doing at least 7 mph over the speed limit, you have no business being on the damn road. Some of us have places to get to. How dare you!
Don't even get me started on cell phones...
PS sincerely stepping out of character now - Mr. K, you might want to rethink your retaliation angle. While no pacifist, I do try to preach peace, and also to practice what I preach. But if I ever see a non-related non-authority adult human perpetrate intentional violence in any form against my kid, it's gonna be go-time. And you don't even want to think about what my wife would do to you. It's biology - pretty basic stuff.
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Ungrateful little heifer
I, too, don't understand why everyone is going so crazy about the Alec Baldwin thing. I remember one of the pundits saying how physically threatening it was for him to say, "I'm going to straighten you out." Jeez. My dad was fond of saying, I'm going break your fucking neck if you don't stop 1) hitting your brother 2) kicking the back of my seat 3) screaming in the grocery store. He kind of used the Alec Baldwin technique of creepy whispering to keep us in check in public, but at home it was first the warning, then the threat, and finally the spanking.
My mother, however, was the name caller. Most of the time she didn't use the big words (like mother fucker, fucker, little bastard, or even bitch) with us, but instead directed them at my father. I, on the other hand, was a selfish little pig, a dirty little heifer, and one memorable moment, a nasty ho. (damn that rap music.) She was always sorry for losing her temper. And the one time she called me a bitch and slapped me silly, she apologized and wrote me a letter. But she was a little justified; my father had just died. And I was ungrateful and acting like bitch and I said something truly awful to her.
I suppose, like Heather, I come from a different generation. My parents got mad, and screamed at me, used the wooden spoon, because they cared. I never thought they didn't. My parents, like everyone else on this god-forsaken planet, were human beings and not Jesus Christ who can show perfect love and forgiveness all of the time. My Parents were more like the old testament God. Sure they loved me, but they weren't above reigning down fire and brimstone to make sure I acted right.
I think the problem stems when all you ever do is insult your kids. It wasn't like that with my parents, and I betcha it ain't like that with Baldwin.
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Rolling Off the Tough Skin of Your Back
This is about preparing your children for life in this world. Like everything, it takes balance. There are different ways to instill the Sticks and Stones lesson into your children, and in the end namecalling can be a playful, half-serious, personal dynamic between parent and child. It can also be a useful way to vent the mountains of steam that those little shits can generate in you. There are many facets to the education that namecalling gives; a quick wit, a tough skin, a tested inner confidence. All that ends up happening if you coddle your children is that they will have to learn the harsh reality later on in life, perhaps when they are not as safe and protected as when they were children. Progress only comes through struggle. Our duty to instill this idea in our children in 'Safe Mode',under our watchful eye.
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sheesh!
sorry. aint gonna get all riled up because a parent got caught on tape doing what everyone ends of doing at some time or another-- acting out to their kids who are acting out. sure, we'd like everyone to use non violent speech and find gentle, thoughtful ways of expressing themselves. But we don't all have that training. Plus it's phony sometimes. Alec seems like a good guy pushed to his wits end by a bitter custody battle. I respect a dad who gets emotional and a bit crazy fighting for his parental rights. My dad and mom split and my dad never fought for us. If anyone should be ashamed it's the one who released this information to the public. What kind of parent would do that to her family, to her child. At least Alec is up front and honest. You know where he stands. She seems like a bitter person , not a sweet mother at all.
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for realz
My parents never called me names, and on top of that they homeschooled me until third grade. I grew up in a dream world of butterflies and mommy hugs. On the first day of school a kid called me a retard and I cried for like a hundred minutes.
The fact of the matter is this: I ran the wrong way in kickball. (Kickball was not one of the stops on the Homeschoolin' Fairyland Express.) I had to learn to not run left *and* be tough, and I had to learn fast. If my homeschool education had included a few choice invectives, I would have had some time to grow into my thick skin. And maybe even learn how to say, "Shove it!"