Posted on 10/16/2011 4:29:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
This past week I saw a sad sight. No, it wasn’t Eric Holder trying to convince us that he’s now a terror exposing hero instead of the perpetrator of a deadly Mexican gunrunning op that had its sights set on ultimately getting our Second Amendment rights revoked—though that was pretty sad, as that dog wag had all the subtleties of a Chaz Bono rumba.
What eclipsed that miserable moment (sorta) and caused me grief this week was watching a young mom at Starbucks ignoring her beautiful, little one-year-old girl while said moron giggled and texted for 30 plus minutes.
Yep, with her head buried in the phone, nose two inches off the cancer screen, mommy dearest didn’t have a clue what her kid was doing as she crawled around on a high traffic, grime-laden cement floor between the feet of strangers who held 16- ounce cups of 180 degree liquid above the kid’s tender flesh as they high stepped over her.
Hey, parents, here’s a freebie from Dr. Doug: Why not put the cell phone and gadgets down for awhile when your babies are around and pay attention to them, all right, jackass? There’ll be plenty of time later in life to ignore them—like in college, when they pierce their nipples and become whiny liberal drips, but now, when they are very young, is not the time.
FYI to Y-O-U, mom … dad: You’ve got one shot at raising that baby, and if you want to make certain your spawn doesn’t:
1. Recite hate poems about you at Barnes & Noble’s open mic night regarding how they’d like to stab you in your sleep for ignoring them for the last sixteen years.
2. Show up high as a kite at a NYC Flea Party Rally, bitching and moaning about hard work and shouting up Che Guevara’s weltanschauung as they roast a fatty …
… then you might wanna give junior some TLC while he’s a T-O-T. You dig?
As I watched this neglect go down at Starbucks, I kept thinking that this daft dame could have cooed and cuddled with her little bambina and had 1,800 seconds of parental bliss that lovely morning.
The Starbucks I visited was on beautiful Miami Beach. Mom could have pointed out to baby the seagulls, the palm trees, the gorgeous skies, the warm sun, the six-foot three-inch trannie with a five o’clock shadow, the rats rummaging through the trash eating discarded ham and cheese paninis, and the ubiquitous metrosexuals with over-tweaked eyebrows who use seven words to order their special cup of Joe. It could’ve been both a bonding and educational familial exchange in one warm whack. But no. The bird had to text.
Here’s a challenge for the parental units: If you think I’m full of crap in regard to the ramifications of blowing your kids off as you obsess with texts and/or social media then let’s do an experiment: For the next 13 years abandon the developmental stages of that genetic concoction of yours, and we’ll see how they turn out as you snub them for Twitter. Are you ready? Okay. On your mark. Get set. Go, Slingblade!
Oh and by the way, conservatives and evangelicals … you, too, can be dilatory dillweeds as this sin knows no party or religious affiliation. I know stacks of family values blowhards out there yapping about the importance of family who haven’t talked to their own family in the last few weeks. Hey, dork, save your house first … then talk to us about ours. I know way too many ministers who strode forth to save the world and lost their kids in the process. Didn’t the apostle Paul say something to the effect that if you can’t govern your own house then you need to shut the hell up?
And finally, if my exhortation to selfless and sacrificial love for your kids versus your gadgets has failed to convince you to change your behavior toward your toddlers, perhaps a selfish plea will. Soon, parents, in the not too distant future, you will return to the dependent state from whence you came, and I’m a guessin’ that the child you ignored while he or she was in diapers will more than likely return the favor when you are sporting Depends.
I know many Christian ministers who insist on sending their children to public schools. They want their children out in the world, interacting with the lost and being a positive influence. Isn’t that what Christians are called to do?
And my wife happens to be a public school secretary (in the “godless pit of depravity” of a suburban elementary school.) Should i shun her as the “whore of Babylon”??
In spite of the snark, this writer gets it. It is actually relatively simple to have these types of interactions with a child all while going about one's daily business if one is committed to doing so. In my book, it's an essential part of developing a lasting relationship with a child that parents learn how to do so right from the start.
The proof is in the pudding -we have three amazing daughters who were raised not to think the sun shines out of their behinds, but with a sense that we were fully invested in guiding them to become great adults and we were going to have as much fun doing so along the way.
And fun was had, all while imparting life lessons along the way--even in the most mundane of activities - getting dressed in the morning, riding in the car, shopping for groceries - even homework.
Our oldest is now 21 and the twins are nearing 18. The payoff for our efforts? Smooth sailing during the turbulent teens, and self-reliant, level-headed young adults who make good decisions and consult us when they are unsure of what to do. Their friends express amazement at what "cool" parents we are-- that we actually talk to them and their friends like real people--something they could never see doing with their own parents.
Now suddenly we are on the precipice of becoming empty nesters, amazed at how short a time childhood is and very glad that we took the time to make the most of it.
Sounds like a perfect communication method for more and more people in this country, when you think about it.
I Know what you mean. I had to do a private reply to a Freeper to find out what “LOL” means that he responded to a post of mine with. He responded back with “ROLMAO”.
No respect for us baby boomers.
And I do want to amend one thing.... we do NOT live in California. California public schools ARE a godless pit of depravity.
Correct.
......and on the other hand, you have kids ignoring the parents while they have those damn plugs stuck in their ears and are listening to god knows what. I would not allow that! I want to talk to my kids. I want to know what they are listening to. Meanwhile mom and/or dad are texting. No one is talking to each other. Sad situation, I’d say.
The **facts** are that Christian children (from highly committed and active Christian families) who attend godless government schools are far far far more likely to proselytized into the godless secular humanist faith than they are to influence their peers or teachers.
Check out the Barna Foundation research for yourself. More than 85% of children ( from highly active Christian families) who attend godless government schools will NOT be active in their faith 2 years after graduation. In contrast, 95% of homeschoolers are active in their faith 2 years after graduating from high school.
Rather than working for, supporting, upholding, and establishing the godless government schools, Christians should seriously and prayerfully consider redirecting their energy and time to rescuing as many children as possible from the government school pits of godless worship and working steadfastly to see that they are closed down! Permanently!
--- On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 7:52 PM, Snafu wrote:
Hi all, I apologize for being off-list and off-the-streets for a few days, but I was lucky enough to become a father on September 17!
I personally believe that the obstination of some members of the NYCGA on not having demands has proved disastrous and resulted in a PR debacle. Invariably, almost all mainstream media accounts of the protests note that the demonstrators have confused ideas and are probably motivated by merely ideological motives.
Electronics are childrens/teenagers ‘pacifiers’ ...and the parents would rather they not cry.
My phone plan gives me unlimited text, unlimited data and 300 minutes of talk per month for $25. Even if you talk for 5 seconds they charge you for a minute. So when a person in another department needs something done they text me. When I want to let my wife know I'm working overtime I text her with a message already preloaded into the phone. If I wasted a phone call on all of the little, repetitive tasks that I can text or be texted instead I'd burn through my minutes in the first week. So I may not be able to write or speak coherently but I have a pretty good grasp of economics. Those of you with wonderful vocabularies who drone on and on in high dollar talk plans made higher because you want to play Angry Birds when you aren't waxing poetic? I don't know.
The following is a general statement about all godless government schools and is not directed personally at any individual here on Free Republic:
**Every** government school in this nation is godless in its worldview. **ALL** of them are by law. Children in these godless schools will learn to think and reason godlessly. They must merely to cooperate with the classroom and to complete assignments.
If any teacher or principal in any government school is attempting to sneak in Christianity into their government school they **are**, indeed teaching two important lessons:
— Christians are sneaky.
— Christians break the law.
If Christians are not being sneaky or breaking the law they are teaching one more important lesson:
— Christians are hypocrites who betray their principles in exchange for a paycheck and pension.
It burns inside of me to become an evangelist to teach parents how to interact with their kids in a way that benefits them both.
I've developed so many "tools" in that regard and children - all children react in the same way when you interact with them in ways that make sense to them. They cling to you like someone in a foreign land who suddenly hears a person that speaks their language.
Yes, you do have a good grasp of economics.
My husband and I are retired, so we use Skype for our main phone. When we travel we have a phone that we would would use only for an emergency.
However...If we were in still in business,** for certain**, we would be texting. Think of the time savings. How many times do I have to listen to a voice mail two or three times just to get the return phone number? It's irritating.
That is a good way to put it.
Our children are grown now, but my husband and I run the Cub Scout program for the Spanish speaking congregation of our church in our county. The boys love leaning, especially within a Christian moral context. They can't get enough of it.
Right. LOL! ;-)
Same here. I have a business cell and (just got) a personal cell since my wife decided I need it for emergencies. I leave them in my office all day, and in the kitchen when I am home. I've heard people answer their cell phones in church.
I with you on that. I was following a driver on a very curvy road and thought "That person is drunker than cooter brown". After about six or seven miles, I got caught next to her at a traffic light. She finally finished texting, put the cell phone on the other seat and drove normally the rest of the trip.
Good for you. We just had one daughter, but all her friends wanted to come to our house because she was always level headed and made smart decisions. We were lucky my wife could be a stay at home mom for here upbringing.
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