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Not sure if you're a parent, but presumably if you were, you'd know there are days when no amount of planning can make things go smoothly. Sometimes kids just r
by theabsurdman 7y ago
Not sure if you're a parent, but presumably if you were, you'd know there are days when no amount of planning can make things go smoothly. Sometimes kids just refuse to cooperate. Have some empathy.
- quanticle 7y agoI'll have more empathy with parents when parents have more empathy with my choice to not have children.
- phyzome 7y agoYou're probably being downvoted because you're implying that parents can never understand being childfree. If anything, having kids made me have more empathy for parents, but also more likely to support people in being childfree. :-P
- OJFord 7y agoIt's presumably a tongue-in-cheek response to the reverse up thread.
- gbacon 7y agoThat’s not the most mature way to state it, but you have a reasonable point. I try to be careful about monitoring my kids’ behavior in public places. When people go for a meal out, they are paying for a nice time and not to hear screaming kids or dodge little unruly hooligans. Elsewhere in the thread, I noted that parents out of necessity choose their battles due to fatigue, selfishness, or letting small things go (but perhaps after recalibrating on what’s small). It’s as though parents’ tolerance for bad behavior increases. Just like non-parents do not have a full appreciation for what parents go through, we parents forget what it was like before kids. Parents and non-parents tend to self-sort into disjoint social networks. Parents of school-aged kids forget what it was like to have infants and toddlers. Oh, just wait until they’re teenagers, say the helpful, encouraging grandparents. Think about others. Put yourself in their shoes. Stop being selfish. That’s good advice for all of us, no matter where we are in life.
- slig 7y agoPlan for it and wake up early.
- ALittleLight 7y agoI'd prefer to be late and well rested.
- Smithalicious 7y agoMore importantly I'd think one would want their child to be well-rested!
- kelnos 7y agoI get that being a parent means that traditional ideas of what's "a good night's sleep" can completely go out the window, but it's kinda sad that the default response is to just accept that you're going to be rude and disrespectful of other people's time. Wish I could find the article, but I recall reading something a year or so ago that found a link between new parents and a newfound reduction in empathy for anyone outside their nuclear family. Given that, I guess this attitude shouldn't be surprising.
- slig 7y agoIf you can pull that off without consequences, good for you!
- randlet 7y agoNot having children doesn't mean you're not allowed to criticize parents for poor behaviour. Regardless, I am a parent to two young children and have done the morning drop offs to school/day care every morning for the last 6 years. Yes sometimes in life being late is inevitable. If it's a recurring pattern though, you're screwing up.
- abtinf 7y ago> Not having children doesn't mean you're not allowed to criticize parents for poor behaviour. That is exactly what it means. People without children have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and have no means of acquiring that knowledge except by having a child.
- okmokmz 7y ago>That is exactly what it means So I can't criticize law enforcement because I'm not a LEO? I can't criticize a politician because I'm not in politics? I can't criticize a woman because I'm not female myself? I can't criticize a parrot owner because I don't own a bird? This is an absolutely ridiculous line of reasoning >People without children have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and have no means of acquiring that knowledge except by having a child So a male doctor can't be a gynecologist because they have "no idea what they are talking about and have no means of acquiring that knowledge except by having" female genetalia? I can't have any idea what it's like owning a parrot except by owning a bird? Again, this is absolutely absurd. Having a child does not enter you into some elite class of individuals that no one else can understand, and it's perfectly acceptable for me to criticize you despite not having children myself
- spookthesunset 7y agoThe joke “I’m sorry we are late, my toddler had to put on their jacket” isn’t a joke once you’ve experienced it. No amount of planning ahead can foresee every hiccup in getting a kiddo out the door...
- randlet 7y agoI'm not saying you need to foresee every hiccup. I am saying you need to allow yourself enough time getting ready to deal with them when they occur.
- spookthesunset 7y agoIndeed. That is true for people with or without kids. If you are consistently late, you are doing something wrong. Might be not enough time, could be an unrealistic start time, who knows. But if you are always late... as they say, brother that is on you.
- MFLoon 7y agoI shudder at the thought of my chronically late friends having kids and exacerbating their already borderline intolerable chronic lateness.
- hnick 7y agoIt can act as a cure. I have some in-laws who are better than ever since they've been forced to adhere to some strict timings around school and childcare.
- gbacon 7y agoI used to think I knew a lot about what parents ought to do. Then I became a father.
- randlet 7y agoI'm preaching what I practice for what it's worth.
- mikeash 7y agoYes, sometimes things go wrong. But if you’re always late, then you need to get started earlier.
- Pfhreak 7y agoI'm a parent, and there's a difference between "We're late today because <toddler reason>" and we're always late. I tend to agree the latter is probably at least somewhat on the parent.