Your Children are Adorable...When They Behave!

I've made no secret about the fact that, quite often, people drive me crazy. It doesn't matter if it's people's selfishness while standing in line or driving, or their thinking it's adorable when they let their child "pay" at the store or steer the grocery cart. But what frustrates me more than anything is when parents allow their child to run rampant, screaming at them and others, not behaving or understanding boundaries of any kind.

That being said, I absolutely loved LZ Granderson's article on CNN's web site, Permissive parents: curb your brats. It was almost like Granderson has been sitting in my head all of these years! I mean, how can you not love an article that starts:

"If you're the kind of parent who allows your 5-year-old to run rampant in public places like restaurants, I have what could be some rather disturbing news for you.

"I do not love your child.

"The rest of the country does not love your child either.

"And the reason why we're staring at you every other bite is not because we're acknowledging some sort of mutual understanding that kids will be kids but rather we want to kill you for letting your brat ruin our dinner."

Yes, I understand that parenting is difficult, and you cannot have control over whether your child acts up in a public place, or is tired, hungry or needs their diaper changed. What you can do, however, is not bring your child into situations where their unruly behavior can be disruptive to others—like a restaurant, a movie (especially an R-rated movie your small child shouldn't be sitting in anyway) or sporting event. If you can't find a babysitter, don't turn a public place into your child's playroom.

Of course, as I joked with friends earlier, if people were to change their behavior in this regard, half of my Facebook status updates would no longer be valid.

Seriously, it may take a village to raise a child, but the whole village doesn't have to watch your child misbehave.