Behavior 911!

It's amazing to me, every time I go to a restaurant, how many parents completely ignore the behavior of their children.

Last night, for example, I was dining at La Parilla in Alpharetta. Nearby, there was a table that consisted of 2 ladies and four or five children, two of whom were seated at a separate table than the adults. The two girls seated alone were about 5 or 6 years old.

Apparently, the children finished eating and the moms wanted to continue talking, so all of the children got up and began to wander around the restaurant. They went to the front, returned with balloons, which one of them subsequently popped loudly. Everyone was staring at them. The moms did not reprimand this child in any way. For the last 20 minutes or so of my meal, the two young girls who were seated alone wandered to the front and stood in the atrium near the exit, going in and out, walking back to their table, and back up to the front.

I cannot believe that a parent would let a 5-year-old out of their sight! As I've heard it said, "That's how girls get gone!" The girls were not in view of the parents at all. How unsafe! A man and his wife came in midway through my meal and said to the waiter, "We're not sitting over there with those noisy children," referring to the same table. Still, the 2 mothers carried on with their socializing while completely ignoring the misbehavior of their children.

Am I living in a world where parents don't want to parent anymore? "Parent" isn't just a noun...it's a VERB. Something folks should consider before reproducing. But no, people would rather ruin everyone else's dinner just so they can do what they want. It's called being unaware.

And this isn't the only time I've seen this happen. I've seen it over and over. I see it whenever I go out. The thing is, if I'm going to spend hard-earned money to not have to cook a meal, I would like to be able to enjoy my food without shrieking, kids running around, loud talking, or balloons popping.

Truly, it's not like I'm "out of the loop" with kids. I spent the last week and a half eating lunch in the school cafeteria with my students, and guess what? They all REMAINED seated. They all talked in normal voices, sans screaming. And the adults around them paid attention to them. I'm around children more than many parents whose children are raised predominantly by a combination of school and daycare, and I think I'm pretty aware.

So that's my vent. My best friend, a pediatric nurse, always refers to children as, "magnificent little creatures." I couldn't agree more. With a little attention and a lot of love, they can be molded into something great. But if they are constantly ignored, what then? I've believed for a long time that most of our behavioral issues in schools have a root problem of the child craving attention from the adults who are supposed to be guiding them through life. This year, I even remember asking a 5th grade boy, "Why do you act like this in my class? You're an intelligent person. What's the deal?" His response, "Ms. Ginn, I just really like the attention."

And there it is, right from the horse's mouth.