I am not a parent. I am not about to be a parent. However, one thing that has been eating at me over the past week is some peoples parenting styles. With me not being a parent I know I cannot have much say on this subject. I also understand that everything changes when one becomes a parent and you do things that you never thought you would do. I am only an aunt and the number of times I have used my hand to whip her nose are increasing with every visit. I get that sometimes you got to do what you got to do.
With that being said, I am currently super frustrated with the over controlling demanding, rude, attention seeking parents. It would be one thing if they appeared to be bettering their child, for example if no one volunteered for a task, asking your child if they would like to do it. However that is not the case.
This past week has been March Break and with that at work comes March Break workshops. These workshops are intended for ages 8-12, the advertisement says 8-12, the skill set required is that of a kid ages 8-12 (obviously give or take a few years depending on each child, but 40+ is certainly pushing it). We created the QR code library scavenger hunt ourselves and it has been going wonderfully all week. The children are great, they are learning things and for the most part awesomely behaved. It has resulted in a lot of fun and exhaustion.
All the fun seems to leave however when there are pushy parents involved. For example, when we ask that there are three groups sized 2-3 and a parent insist that all five of the girls be in one group together because they came together and then you do the hunt for them and even fill out each of their sheets as they then stand there bored watching. Or the parent who insists it is a race (after repeatedly telling the group it is not) and does the entire hunt herself, running (again after saying not to) around the library, skipping the steps of questions because she knows the answer and then getting mad because things are hidden (ITS A SCAVENGER HUNT!). Also, if the teacher is at the front talking and explaining things, we do not need your smart remarks every two minutes. We teach our children to be polite, to raise their hand, to not talk when others are talking, so take that advice and do the same.
Ok, sorry the experiences are still fresh. The frustration is still there. I guess it is just hard to see from the outside their total disrespect for their children. The point of the workshop was for the kids to learn how to use things like the dictionary and thesaurus, for them to follow instructions and be proud of themselves for figuring out clues. It was not for them to blindly follow their parents around and wish they could be any place but there.
So in conclusion, don't be this kind of parent. You look like a fool. Take a chill pill, relax and let your kids figure it out. They survive everyday at school by themselves, they can handle a two hour workshop at a library. There are no grades, or prizes or anything involved, everyone just needs to relax a little. There comes a time when you need to understand that you can not forever hold their hand and it is better to learn it early then to be the parent who follows their child to university or the parent who has set their child up for failure in life because they were never required to do anything for themselves. So a part of me is glad that I have encountered these parents because they have opened my eyes to what I do not want to be, over controlling, over bearing parents.
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