Comments on: Parenting Fail

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:14:00 +0000

Some people should never have kids. I'm gonna use my really good vocabulary right now…scumbags.

By: ~sublimealice~

~sublimealice~ — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:54:00 +0000

i was at a bar one time that has this enormous wooden staircase going from the restaurant downstairs to the bar upstairs. at around 11:00 my friend and i turn around to see a toddler in footie pajamas dragging a blankie down the stairs. she was obviously new to the whole walking thing period, and was trying to maneuver these stairs that even i've fallen down. my friend and i spent the next half hour babysitting her while her parents got hammered upstairs. they hadn't even noticed she was gone.

By: alana

alana — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:50:00 +0000

I agree that this sort of parenting is bad all around, but I think we should keep in mind that we don’t know these people’s stories or their personal lives so we shouldn’t be so quick to judge (the situation with the Bartender is obviously different since you knew the details). We have no idea what goes on at home and there are more options then being a good kid vs. a kid that experiments with drugs and alcohol.

Now I know you know all this, but it just rubs me the wrong way how quick we are to throw these parents under the bus. And as a person who started smoking weed and drinking when I was 13, I know that this is a difficult multi-faceted situation.

Maybe that 15 year old is as grown up as I was at 15 and is a good kid just looking for any way to connect with his father. I’m not making excuses for bad behavior; I’m just reserving judgment for when I know more details about the situation.

It does seem pretty selfish either way though.

By: Brigit

Brigit — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:27:00 +0000

I apparently know way too many people with alcoholic parents. This was a common theme, and sadly I've yet to met a person that came out unscathed from their parents pulling off shit like this.

By: Nolens Volens

Nolens Volens — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:41:00 +0000

Funny thing is…I posted about irresponsible parenting (as part of Mad Monday series) 2 weeks ago. Yeah. Sighs.

By: Meg

Meg — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:51:00 +0000

When my parents came to visit me at the end of London Semester in 1999, we went to a pub in Scotland. Mom was shocked when in walks a family with their toddler! I just shrugged it off. But here's the rub–the Brits don't go to the pub to get smashed and forget their children. Pubs are meeting places, places to enjoy a quick drink with friends and family.

That said, I agree with you–American bars, especially your favorite, are not the place to bring your adolescent for a night out. It is, indeed, a parenting fail.

By: 13messages

13messages — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:40:00 +0000

There's so much damage in parenting like that. The regret will surely follow.

I wish those kiddos the best.

By: hubmanshangout

hubmanshangout — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:17:00 +0000

That is sooooooo wrong….

Some people are idiots, I swear!

By: Red

Red — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:19:00 +0000

Bottom line, people who do this to their children are selfish. They constantly put their needs before their child's, and always will…and their kids will spend a good portion of their adulthood seeking approval and getting involved in situations that do not serve them because they were taught that their needs weren't important.

Blarg.