WIRED FOR SAFETY
There once was a kid wired for safety,
Whose parents checked texts almost daily.
Yikes!
A scraped knee? Alarm!
A fall? Oh no harm!
But grit got left out, quite unsafely.
At H-E-B, with a tantrum in motion,
The candy aisle stirred up commotion.
Fake tears were applied,
Parents caved, wide-eyed,
And yielded, much to the kid’s sly devotion.
Back in the 80s, we roamed every street,
Blue climbing and biking, feeling the heat.
Bruised elbows, torn clothes,
Mud under my toes,
While today’s kids stay inside on repeat.
* * *
Too true! Unfortunately, parents have been trained to do this. I realized that, once the schools started insisting we sign test papers, even when our child received an A. Thus, the helicopter parent was born.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteSad but true! The next generation will be incapable of doing anything on their own.
ReplyDeleteAnd never been to a HEB but I know what one is.
The next generation will be crying mommy a lot. Hard times create strong people, strong people create good times, good times create weak people, and weak people create hard times. I wonder which one applies to 2026.
DeleteWired for safety but, what happens when they get out into the real world and find the safety nets are gone? sigh...
ReplyDeleteWell,.....
DeleteWell, I have seen some of those tantrums at the grocery store. They are not pretty. Parents cave as they don't want to look bad and want the scene to stop playing out. The kid gets the candy and then it is all smiles as they exist. The candy is strategically placed at the register to create impulse buying.
DeleteThey always cave. It's like they want to be their kids' friends. It's the weirdest thing. My mom would just give me that look....
DeleteHi True
How are you?
This is why we have stupid little Gretas today....
ReplyDeleteBut younglings won't have to do anything on their own because AI and robots are taking over the world!
Problem solved.
DeleteYou turning into one of those " Get off my lawn" old men, blue? Lmao
ReplyDeleteYep. Kids are coddled big time these days. Parents are also conditioned, like we are for most anything, to be that way. But the best thing you can do is ignore the garbage. If kids fall and you react they react. But if they fall and you say nothing, unless they are truly hurt, they just get up and keep going. Same with stores. Say no and make sure they know it's no. I play out the scenario with them if we bought it, then ask it worth it? And they almost always say no. They get it if you don't treat them like little glass objects that will break all the time. Or let them be brats. Of course that's not including the kids with issues, as that is a lot harder. But a lot of that, not all, is due to that garbage they are eating and being allowed to consume online too. Plus lazy arse drs wanting to just label something under f it bucket instead of figure out what's actually going on. End rant.
Well, look what the cat dragged in.... (see what I did there?)
DeleteGood to hear from you, Pat. It's been a while.
I honestly can't with this gentle parenting stuff these days. I didn't coddle my girls while they were growing up. Did they think I was mean? Absolutely. But they were sent out on their own as productive and compassionate members of society. I'd say my youngest, who just turned 22, and I are now are very close- like besties. We just went and got matching tattoos, so I guess she got over having a mom who made her figure it out and didn't swoop in for every booboo. She even raises her eyebrows at our friends who take the gentle parenting approach, but their kids you don't want to spend more than 5 minutes with because they are little hellions.
ReplyDeleteThere's a guy on Instagram that lives in Iceland, I think his name is something like Griepjokes, that his son trips and falls in every video. The kid just dusts himself off and keeps on truckin. I wish more parents these days would let their kids fall or fail.
Yeah, it’s hard to understand why so many parents overprotect their kids as if they’re fragile little dolls. Eventually they have to stand on their own two feet, and then they get stressed out when something is too hard for them. Your kids aren’t soft, and that doesn’t surprise me one bit.
DeleteThanks for stopping by,
Blue
Grade-focused learning is a thing. Students expect to be spoon-fed because they have had everything handed to them (and if not immediately, they turn on those tears). Parents can be just as bad, enabling them to the point where it is the teacher's fault if their kid refuses to work. Perfect example: I had an e-mail earlier this year where the parent told me it was my fault her daughter couldn't cheer because I didn't do my job, putting grades in on time. I always put grades in on time (for my sake and theirs), and fortunately, I had all of the student's work from that quarter (that had started and never bothered to finish). I photographed and sent it to mom...and never heard one word back from her...until the next quarter when it happened again (this time by the dad). -_- I have many more examples, but you probably already know... How are these kids going to be future leaders of the next generation if they can't even work through small things?? A little off-topic, I know, but you struck a never, Blue. :).
ReplyDeleteI sure do, being a teacher myself. Parents are often worse than students. In fact, I can predict what parents are like based on what I hear and see their kids do in class. As for your final question: They'll use an app to solve all of their problems, only to find out such an app doesn't exist.
DeleteHope you're doing fine,
Blue
I never see kids outside playing anymore. My daughter bought my grandson a skateboard, skates, and toys that are played outside. At least he gets outside a bit. GenX was outside all the time. It was a different time for sure.
ReplyDeleteClimbing trees (if there were any), riding our bike without our parents knowing where the heck we were. There was trust and little room for fear. We just played outside and learned how to deal with problems. Small problems but big enough for kids. It was a different time for sure. No doubt about that.
DeleteThank for always stopping by,
Blue