|
While I have not had to use a leash on my children (yet!), I can see where they are necessary at times. My neice can be pretty wild, (on Christmas day she escaped, went to the neighbors house and started ringing the doorbell) and I think there are times when she needs one! She does not listen to her parents when they ask her to stop, and just keeps on going! As a parent, she scares me not only for fear of darting into the road in front of a car, but getting far enough away for someone else to pick her up and take her away to do ghastly things to her. The world can be a scary place for parents. If I could, I would personally put tethers on all three of my girls and never let them out of my sight!
It can be a no win situation for parents in stores. If a child is tired, and it is an essential errand, it has to be done regardless. My girls tend to feed off of each other. The longer it takes, the louder and more undisciplined they become. (They do get tired of sitting quietly after about 10 minutes). If I yell at them or spank them, every one is going to call me a witch; if I do nothing, everyone says what a terrible parent. There's not really a place to put them in time out at a store either. All I can do is hope whoever I am dealing with hurries the heck up so I can get my children out of there!
As far as scantilly dressed children - I keep my girls looking like little girls, but that does not mean they like it! I think stores start targeting "sexy" to children as young as four! I can't believe some of the clothes out there that are for "kids". My eight year old looks at the Victoria Secret catalog now because one of her friends told her the clothes were cool. So I'm now having a conversation with my eight year old about the clothes in VS and why some of them are inappropriate for even grown women! Kids are growing up way too fast these days!
|