Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Observations

When a little boy is 2 1/2 to 3 years old and starting down the road of potty training, the occasional dropping of the pants to pee outdoors is understandable, a little funny, and sometimes even cute.

When that same boy is 6 1/2 and drops his pants mid-afternoon in front of a group of kids (mostly girls) and pees on the neighbor's house, it's not funny at all.

When the boy is returned to his mother by the owner of the now christened house and the mother responds to the incident with a grin and, "Oh, that Neville!" it's annoying and somewhat aggravating.

When the boy then returns to the group of kids and proceeds to pull down his pants repeatedly and wave his little member around at everyone, clearly having received no correction or discipline at all, it's angering.

When you know that it is just another in a series of incidents with a similar parental response, it's sad. For those kids, for your kids, for everyone.

When the parents of that kid refuse to return phone calls as other residents of the neighborhood try to resolve issues - and not just this one - you realize the sense of entitlement exhibited by the children (not just this boy) clearly is learned at home.

You like to think that those kids are in for a rude awakening some day. But then again, the parents have gotten this far without having to adjust their views, so all you can hope for is that they move away. Meanwhile, you smile falsely and steer clear.

No comments: