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HOW PARENTS CREATE PINOCCHIO

HOW PARENTS CREATE PINOCCHIO

While she went to the counter to pick up the food order, Mom left her blonde curly-haired, dimpled darling at the table in the small eatery.

Upon her return, on the restaurant wall was a huge smearing of ketchup and mustard. The ghastly sight was only a few steps from where little Ms Dimples was sitting. The only other patrons in the area were two elderly women.

Who might have created this unartistic mess? A reasonable person would know the elderly folks didn’t. A reasonable parent would know, without a doubt, their kid had misbehaved. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many reasonable parents out there these days. Instead we’ve got a bunch of ‘em taking a wild stab at raising kids that the rest of us are having to put up with.

Ms Unreasonable Mom asked Dimples IF she had decorated the wall with the condiments. What would any kid answer, when confronted with a choice concerning what even the kid knew to be a punishable deed?

Ms Unreasonable Mom seemed to think it was time for discussion. After the first shaking of the blonde curls by the kid, Mom asked the question again. and again. Each time the repeat response was more adamant then the first and delivered with little arms folded across her chest and a “you don’t trust me” scowl on the kid’s distorted face.

Ms Unreasonable – middle name Mom – let the issue rest. Since the condiment containers on their table were empty, she reached onto another table for the ketchup and mustard needed for their hotdogs.

Uh, huh! “She said she didn’t do it!” was Ms Unreasonable’s confused response to my alarm at how she handled the  situation when she told me the story.

This  Mom knew good and well who put the stuff on the wall
  and she  should not have asked, “Did you do this?”

Ms Unreasonable Mom set her kid up to tell a lie
.  The issue should have been confronted – head-on.  Management should have been asked for cleanser and rags
 and under Mom’s supervision, kid should have cleaned the mess as best possible

No condiments from another table – dry hotdogs become one of the consequences of this intolerable behavior. Too many unreasonable parents think this type of behavior from their offspring is cute. In my reasonable style of parenting – there are no cute kids.

This Post Has 3 Comments
  1. Well–I would have asked my kid, “Did you do it?” with a look on my face that said, “I know darn well you did it, and this is your chance to fess up.” My kids knew better than to lie when they got that look. Then I would have said, “What do you need to do about it?” Answer: “Clean it up.” And then I would make them do it.

  2. I so agree, my daughter had to clean up a drawing she made on a wall she never pulled a stunt like that again. All I did was hand her a bucket with warm water and a brush , I even think her brothers decided that it was not a good Idea. So it never happened again. I didn’t yell or scold I just told her to clean it up

  3. Shirlee,

    Another insightful and “right-on” blog. It is so amazing to me, that this parent could be
    more of a “child” than the actual child. The parent set the child up to lie;and ultimately did not provide any disciplinary action or punishment at all. Society has so much tolerance for the WRONG things; and very little tolerance for the RIGHT things. Is this how we teach people to be responsible for their actions?
    —-Bill Allen, Jr.

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