Ok. So.
I actually forgot I had a blog. But, in the meantime I gathered some thoughts that I feel I could rant and rave about.
Drake has officially started school and I have been introduced to 14 other sets of parents and their children. I cook part time in a restaurant where I am introduced to hundreds of parents and their children. As I spend more time with other parents and their children, I can't stop thinking... What the hell are we doing?
When the hell did we stop being parents? When did we stop teaching and setting examples? When the hell did we stop molding well mannered, respectful children?
On Drake's second day of school he said there was a boy that is rotten to him. He is 3. Why should any 3 year old feel disliked? This boy called him names and made fun of him only after knowing him for 4 hours. After speaking with Drake's teacher about how he was handling school, she told me that he hasn't said a word and that he has just sat back and had been soaking it all in. So how is it that some kid can just decide he hates another kid when he knows nothing about him?
I watch teenagers come into the restaurant on a daily basis dropping the F - bomb every other word when they are surrounded by toddlers and senior citizens. They openly make fun of the people around them with no consideration of their feelings. These same kids show up at 3 o'clock in the morning drunk off their faces and are even more rude and obnoxious.
The new fashion trend is to not have clothes on at all. I didn't even know they made denim underwear. They obviously do because that is what these girls are wearing out in public. Not to mention that no teenage boy has to wonder what they look like naked because they basically are.
I read an article the other day about the rise in sexual assault cases in the United States. Are any of us surprised? I'm not. The same article talked about sexting and skype and self shooting nude pictures. We hand our kids $500 cell phones and send them on their way. This is what our kids are doing with these phones. Then we want to sue everyone because our kids took naked pictures of themselves and sent it to their temporary boyfriends. Then those boyfriends send it to their buddies and eventually on to the all powerful internet. Weird... Perhaps these parents should be suing themselves for raising classless, self respect lacking children. MY OPINION is that when our daughters are not taught to respect themselves and run around and post pictures in next to nothing they are more likely to put themselves in a dangerous situation. Our sons need to be taught what men are supposed to be. They need to be taught that women are not trophies. They are not sex objects. They need to be taught that there is a special place in hell for rapists. They need to be taught that being a man is not being a hard ass or a chick magnet. We need to raise our sons to be respectful, loving, caring men. Men that love and honor their wives. Men that are not afraid to hug and kiss their children.
Why is it that our kids have no self respect? Why don't they have any class? Because we didn't fricken teach them any. When did this happen? When did we stop teaching our daughters about class and being "lady like"? When did we stop teaching them about the importance of self respect and loving yourself first. When did we stop giving them morals? When did we stop raising our boys to be gentlemen? When did we make it ok to treat women like objects?
Like everyone else in the country, I watched the video of the bullied school bus monitor. And I read the hundreds of articles about young children committing suicide because of being bullied. I have witnessed in person the new brutality of bullying. It's not bullying anymore. It is flat out hate crime.
I was bullied as a kid. I was over weight. I had a stupid haircut and my parents never once bought me a named brand article of clothing. This led to book spills, name calling and the occasional trip to the flagpole. That was bullying. The end result was that I became a bully's bully. I lost a bunch of weight, grew about 2 feet and stopped being the target. Instead, I stuck up for those who couldn't stick up for themselves.
Where did that go? Where did the heroes go? Wait, forget the heroes... When did we stop teaching our kids to NOT be wretched balls of hate? When did we stop yanking the silver spoons out of our kid's mouths? When did we suddenly decide to teach our children that they are better than everyone else? When did we start giving in to every demand? When did we rid the world of consequence? When did we stop being parents?
That really is it, isn't it? We aren't our children's parents anymore. We are their buddies. Their pals. Their peers. We no longer teach them the dangers of drugs, booze or being promiscuous. We smoke weed with them, host their parties and let their boyfriends and girlfriend spend the night. We buy their birth control. We take them to the mall and buy their name brand, see-through clothes. Then, when we decide that we can't handle their behavior anymore we throw them out. Or we put them in the system that is a proven failure. Or we bark at the government to correct our failures as parents. We no longer take the steps needed to be real parents. We give up. We give in.
As each generation of new parents arise, one phrase is always repeated. " I am not going to be as strict as my parents were".
Well, I think we have reached the point where there is no strictness anymore. Our kids are born and we love them sooooooooooooo much because they are babies. We love them soooooooooooo much as they grow because they are so cute and they say the cutest things and they are dependent on us. We love them soooooooooooooo much because they are little and we want to give them the world. And then they get older. We loved them sooooooooooooooooooo much that they now expect the world. Their wants are now more important than their needs. We have spoiled them so badly that they no longer are grateful for anything.
Their whole lives the entire world has revolved around them. We were loving them soooooooooooooo much that we forgot to teach them that it actually doesn't.
So, now what does a spoiled kid do when they don't get what they want? They get angry. Then the angry kids take their anger out on every one around them. Especially the weaker ones.
We did this. We taught our children that the world revolves around them. We have taught them that when you can't handle a situation, you give up and walk away from it. We taught them to think they are better than others. We taught them that material things are more important than emotional ones. We taught them these things because these are the examples we have set.
We have decided that it is our school's responsibility to teach our kids right from wrong. We have decided that it is our teacher's fault that they suck at school. We have decided that it is up to our schools to fight the anti bullying fight. And somehow we have decided it is up to everyone else to teach our kids morality.
Wake up ASSHATS. It is a PARENT'S job to do all of these things. I will spend every second of my life making damn sure that my children understand the pain that they could cause others by being a bully. I will make damn sure that my son knows that girls are not sex objects. My children will have it bashed into their heads the importance of being respectful and helpful, not selfish and greedy. I will teach them that every lie has a consequence. Now that my daughter is grown up I hope we have taught her the importance of having some class. I will spend my whole life making damn sure that they know the world does not revolve around them alone. If I fail, then I know that it was me that failed. Not the schools. Not the government and not the teachers. If I fail, I will do everything my power to help correct my mistakes. I will do my best to show them the correct path. I will never give up on them. I will never throw them out into the world without the tools they need to be useful parts of society.
To my children. There is no words to express how much I love you. I love you so much that I will be up your ass your whole lives. I will be honest with you in every situation we come across. I will give you the best advice I can to lead you in the right direction. I will do the best I can to teach you right from wrong. I will do my best to install all the morals that my parents have installed in me. I also promise that in every wrong decision, every failure and every dropped ball... I will love as much as I always have.
