Lack of Parenting skills

[georgiab]

Last saturday it was a fairly busy day.....Being a thrift store it is of course going to be. These young "adults" come in with their load of children one in paticular is a small boy about three...no shoes or shirt mind you!!! The parents proceed to look around while their children run amuck through the store.....As I am checking someone out the half naked kid decides to make a run for freedom...he pushes the door and I panick a little and say uh you shouldn't do that...not really thinking that he'll be able to open the damn thing.....BUT no he does and makes a bee line across our extremely busy parking lot (there are several other buisness in the lot). I was livid I screamed WHO"S KID IS THIS!!!!! Then this slacker of a father walks SLOWLY to the front I exclaim is that your child ...who by the way is half way across the lot and seems to be trying to decide if he wants to get in the family car or run away with the circus! The father doesn't react at all and SLOWLY goes out the door to the car....I can not believe these people in society today...He did not seemed concerned at all....I can't stop thinking had that kid been hit or had I not seen him make his mad dash for freedom he could be halfway to china by now!!!!

[aurelemsrealm]

I know how you feel. I always hated to see people send their kids in to pay for gas when I worked at the c-store. Our store was a busy location, and most of the drivers were careless idiots. I don't know how many times I'd almost get hit just pulling into or out of the EMPLOYEES' parking behind the building.

[friendofjimmyk]

this makes me sad for all humanity!

[Mighty Girl]

I think I hurt myself. Reading the first two posts made my jaw hit the desk. If you wouldn't have yelled, they probably would have had NO IDEA their kid was even out of the store. But then, I'm downright paranoid about strangers around my kid. I hold on to her- literally- any time we're in or near a parking lot or street, whether it's busy or not. We live on a sidestreet and the way people barrel down the street is obnoxious. And I must have said "Stay close" so many times, it's permanently imprinted on her little brain. When we're in a store, I look at her and she just looks at me and says "I'll stay close".

What also makes me nervous is she's going to be attending school with a lot of these little jerks and I don't like it. Every time I think about it, I'm tempted to home school.

[Anakah]

I hate when they do that. This may sound barbaric but have any of you seen the new kid leash backpacks? They have monkeys or dogs that go on the child's back and the tail is what the parents hold onto. I've seen it many times in the casino and I think its brilliant.
I didn't like the kid harnesses but the backpack thing was a good idea. Helps the parents keep track of their kids and it doesn't look like a full body bind.

[CaroPhoenix]

I have the doggie backpack/leash system. I love it! I look at my daughter and say, "Let's put doggie on!" and she holds out her little arms for me to put it on her.

Sure, I do get looks (and evil ones at that), but I don't mind. My daughter is Autistic, and when she's in motion, she doesn't listen. Would they rather see her in a harness or dead in the parking lot because she wanted to run away from Mommy & Daddy? Let me tell you, watching my daughter run away from me, as I'm yelling at the top of my lungs for her to stop and seeing cars zipping around the parking lot, my heart was pounding overtime. I think I aged 100 years in those few moments.

[Marxfan]

Hey, do what you have to do to keep your kids close. It's not just injuries you have to worry about, it's kidnappers.

Yeah, no one watches their damn kids anymore these days. My friend who worked in the children's department at B&N always had to deal with kids climbing on shelves and fixtures while their oblivious parents absently flipped through magazines.

[Broomjockey]

What's the big deal with kid leashes and harnesses? It's not like it's around the kid's neck! It's not like it's being used to dangle the kid from heights. It's a security device parents use so that they are able to have a hand free, pay some attention to what they are doing, etc. without neglecting to supervise their child. I've no issues with someone even giving a tug or two to get a child's attention, and before anyone could even protest to me "But parents use them to DRAG THEIR CHILD AROUND!!!" I would point out that it probably hurts the child more to have an angry/annoyed parent grab tightly on to their wrist and drag them off by the arm torquing on the socket.

[mariamousie1]

Some kids you have to watch every minute. My brother's ex-girlfriend's kid, when he was about 3 or 4, had a negligent baby-sitter, and he walked out of the house, right across a busy street, and into a supermarket. Someone saw him though and called child services, and his mother was horrified.
My brother had one of those leashes too. He was always hyperactive and definitely needed it. He once climbed out of his crib, out the window and climbed down the side of the house. He must be related to Spider-man.
However, you'd think any parents would be concerned at least if their kid ran out the door.

[siead_lietrathua]

yeah, i dont think the leashed do any harm to a kid other than to their trouble-making schemes. i know my parents used to keep me and my brother close by with bracelets and a bungee cord. i plan to do the same for my rugrats.

[South Texan]

Sure, I do get looks (and evil ones at that), but I don't mind. My daughter is Autistic, and when she's in motion, she doesn't listen. Would they rather see her in a harness or dead in the parking lot because she wanted to run away from Mommy & Daddy? Let me tell you, watching my daughter run away from me, as I'm yelling at the top of my lungs for her to stop and seeing cars zipping around the parking lot, my heart was pounding overtime. I think I aged 100 years in those few moments.

We had to resort to the leash with my son for the same reasons. The number of EVIL glares we received was incredible. I didn't care, though, as it was for my son's security in case he stimmed or became overly excited.

After the near disaster of him running off and vanishing in The Magic Kingdom at Disney World, we knew the leash was needed. We had been looking for something in a backpack and took our eyes off him for thirty seconds. What followed was twenty minutes of panic and pure HELL for us. Thankfully, he eventually spotted a Snow White display in a shop window in Fantasy World and stopped to ogle. Otherwise, who knows how long he would have run and where he would have ended up. It took us an hour to get over the scare. The next day at Epcot, we used the leash and had people looking at us as if we were the worst parents on the planet.

My son has since advanced to the point he no longer needs the leash, but I support any parent who uses one rather than risking their child running off. It only takes a moment of parental distraction for the child to vanish.

[AriRashkae]

When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband and I had a discussion about leashes and harnesses. He was vehemently against them, as they were "demeaning" and treated the kid little better than an animal.

Well, time went on, baby #1 became toddler #1, and we went to the mall. After a few hours of walking around alternately carrying or holding hands with our son, he was ready to cave, adn agreed that perhaps I had the right of it.

A harness allows a child a bit of independence (about 2-3 feet ), while keeping said child in the parent's awareness and SAFE at all times. End of story.

[Reyneth]

When I was pregnant with our first child, my husband and I had a discussion about leashes and harnesses. He was vehemently against them, as they were "demeaning" and treated the kid little better than an animal.

At that age, they're about like an animal. A very smart, back-talking one, but an animal neverless - in that they don't have the reasoning and logic skills yet. After years of babysitting, I already know that a leash will be something I have for my toddlers!

[Emrld]

The only reason I know that my parents used a harness/ leash system with me is that I have seen photos.
I don't remember having to put it on or wearing it.
Just saying I don't think any long term damage was caused (and I am over 30)

I have absolutely no problem with harness/ leash systems or the animal backpack . . .in fact I will stop and politely "golf clap" and say "Thank you for being a REAL Parent" and then go on my merry little way.

As mentioned here there are all kinds of kids . . .and their are even ones that need just a little bit of freedom but not so much that they end up in over their heads. (Autistic, hearing impared, speech impared, hyper, not scared of anything etc)

For the people who get upset/ are against harness/ leash type situations . . .I think they should have to be put in charge of a todler and a ton of errands in a mall - lets see how they feel after.

And please for the Parents on this site who choose to use this type of system - please sit back and enjoy a standing ovation in honor of Good Parenting.

I am not saying that this works for every child . . .so for those who are doing an equivlent JOB of maintaining their child - sit down and enjoy the applause as well.

[iradney]

I was on a leash as a kid. Why? Because I was a naughty little bugger and would wander off as soon as my Mom took her X-Ray eyes off me.
As far as I can tell, I don't have any deep seated issues because of it...Unless you count a fetish for collars and leashes... (KIDDING! KIDDING!)