Posted on 11/09/2005 3:33:45 PM PST by Ellesu
Sorry.
I won't post again.
Excellent summary. Everyone seems to be going to extremes ... "If a person objects to my 2-year-old at the opera, he just hates children!" No, a 2-year-old does not belong at the opera; get a babysitter, or get a DVD. Or, "People shouldn't be allowed to bring children to the opera at all!" even though a well-brought-up 10-year-old is perfectly capable of either watching the show or quietly dozing.
It comes down to adults simply not showing decent courtesy and common sense ... but then what do you expect, when people are talking on their cell phones at the opera?
I don't have kids, but I do tell people the same thing when they are trying to train their dogs. "Fido! Come Fido! Come here boy! Comeon Fido! Kiss! Kiss! Come on Fido! Fido! Come Fido! Come here boy! Comeon Fido! Kiss! Kiss! Come on Fido!" Till the dog finally comes or they just go get it.... I say "OK - you just trained the dog that they don't have to listen till you say it about 14 times. "Now, Say it once. And enforce it" Isn't that better? :~D
This reminds me of a story from yesterday. I was taking a 7am flight out of Buffalo (which meant I got up at 4), looking for a little sleep on the way across the country. The plane was almost done boarding, and it looked positive that I was going to get a whole row to myself (one of those small A+BC regional jets).
Then, a family boards with five children, including one infant and four aged about 3-6. My hopes suddenly dashed when they sat next to me. Their mother was carrying the baby, and their father sported a buzz-cut and a Navy sweatshirt.
Well, it turned out to be the best AM flight I've had. I didn't sleep, but the children were the most well-behaved children I've ever seen, as well as the smartest! I had a more intelligent conversation with them than I've had with teenagers. The four year old next to me clenched his Jesus portrait as we took off, and told me that maybe we'll meet again, if it's God's will.
It was quite touching to know that there are children out there that are this well behaved and respectful.
Yes, you will :~D
Not that there's anything wrong with that! :~D
He he! I like to say, in a quiet but distinct tone, "Don't think you're going to be allowed to act like that, just because other children are ..."
You mean 'ole thing,
Bite me! ;)
Smooch!
I'm going to see if I can find that bra thread that disappeared.
Great story ... but you got lucky! No amount of good upbringing will keep a baby from throwing up, if he thinks he's gotta :-).
Well, I better leave too, since I just made a comparison between raising kids and dog training.
I think it's more like training cats.
Yeah,
but if you raise a mean dog, you can always shoot him ;)
I think kids are more trainable than cats, aren't they?
So there's that.
Ah - teenagers...
Teenagers are a lot like cats. Sleep all day, up all night, eat weird stuff, leave messes for you to find unexpectedly days later ...
Yeah - that sounds about right... I don't have them, but I was one :~D
Haha, how true! Thanks for the reply :)
I did indeed get lucky. Of course, it came at the expense of many, many flights involving crying babies, sick patrons, HUGE patrons, seats next to the toilet, you get the idea!
Don't you dare leave, then I will feel guilty because I was deciding whether I should respond to your post that training dogs and training kids is very similar. But then I started to think of all the flaming I'd get.
It IS similar. Reward and punishment, I remember from a psychology class years ago, the worst response you get is if you only punish when one is bad, the next most effective is if you only reward when one is good and the most effective is to reward good behavior and punish bad. Dogs...kids. Same thing.
Except for the crates and the pinch collars :~D
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