The end of common courtesy
Editorial
by Mary Heston
Sr. Editor Stayathomemom.com
Have we become a world of barbarians? Do we no longer feel the need to be courteous to one another?
When you have your first child the world really does seem to revolve around you and your baby. And it should! You should have complete focus on taking care of your baby and yourself and your family. There are, of course, other people in the world who have chosen not to have children and there are parents whose children have grown up and they no longer are taking care of babies. In each case we need to be respectful of each other's situation.
For people not traveling with children it is the right thing to be courteous of the mother who is schlepping 5 bags and two kids on her way to visit grandma for the first time. Grandma, you can travel with one carry on bag and so perhaps you might want to consider visiting your grandchildren instead of expecting them to schlep their way to you. I know this isn't always possible but it is just a suggestion.
Mother's who are breastfeeding have had to deal with the problem of where to feed their baby in public and how to do this discretely. The public is becoming more accepting of this but there still are those occasional sneers or jeers. Some moms have pushed the point by getting booby beanie caps for their babies.
As a Stay at Home Mom of four kids and an avid movie goer I am often horrified when I pay $10 to see an R-rated violent movie only to find that there are very small children in the theater. Parents, if you can't find a babysitter or can't afford to pay the movie tickets AND a babysitter then stay at home. You know the movie will be out in DVD before you know it. You may try to justify this by telling yourself the baby will sleep through the movie or never remember it any way or you are breastfeeding and so you had to bring them - but these are all wrong.
When our kids were little we wanted to be able to take them to nice restaurants so that we could all go out to dinner together. So, what we did was start out at Practice restaurants like Pizza Hut, I-Hop or other "family" dining restaurants. This way we could practice eating out without interrupting anyone else's dining experience.
People don't hate children but some people do get very annoyed with screaming misbehaving children.
As a mother who is raising four amazing contributing citizens I want people to give me the common courtesy of perhaps opening a door for me (but if they don't I'm fine getting it myself) or cutting me some slack if I accidentally wear two mismatched shoes out in public. I'm trying.
At the same time I feel it is incumbent on us as parents to raise courteous children who don't leave a big mess at a table even if we are dining out (unless we leave a ginormous tip). I feel it is important for us as parents to be courteous of our non-child friends and not expect them to have their world revolve around our children. If you have kids in tow perhaps you should consider a family dining restaurant instead of the fancy french restaurant you used to love to go to before you had kids. (Unless those kids are like my friends children, Luxury Travel Mom Kim-Marie, who have always been delightful dinner guests since they were old enough to feed themselves).
I just think we all just need to be nicer to each other and to live and let live with a smile and some common courtesy.
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This editorial was inspired by two news stories:
by Mary Heston
Sr. Editor Stayathomemom.com
Have we become a world of barbarians? Do we no longer feel the need to be courteous to one another?
For people not traveling with children it is the right thing to be courteous of the mother who is schlepping 5 bags and two kids on her way to visit grandma for the first time. Grandma, you can travel with one carry on bag and so perhaps you might want to consider visiting your grandchildren instead of expecting them to schlep their way to you. I know this isn't always possible but it is just a suggestion.
Mother's who are breastfeeding have had to deal with the problem of where to feed their baby in public and how to do this discretely. The public is becoming more accepting of this but there still are those occasional sneers or jeers. Some moms have pushed the point by getting booby beanie caps for their babies.
As a Stay at Home Mom of four kids and an avid movie goer I am often horrified when I pay $10 to see an R-rated violent movie only to find that there are very small children in the theater. Parents, if you can't find a babysitter or can't afford to pay the movie tickets AND a babysitter then stay at home. You know the movie will be out in DVD before you know it. You may try to justify this by telling yourself the baby will sleep through the movie or never remember it any way or you are breastfeeding and so you had to bring them - but these are all wrong.
People don't hate children but some people do get very annoyed with screaming misbehaving children.
As a mother who is raising four amazing contributing citizens I want people to give me the common courtesy of perhaps opening a door for me (but if they don't I'm fine getting it myself) or cutting me some slack if I accidentally wear two mismatched shoes out in public. I'm trying.
At the same time I feel it is incumbent on us as parents to raise courteous children who don't leave a big mess at a table even if we are dining out (unless we leave a ginormous tip). I feel it is important for us as parents to be courteous of our non-child friends and not expect them to have their world revolve around our children. If you have kids in tow perhaps you should consider a family dining restaurant instead of the fancy french restaurant you used to love to go to before you had kids. (Unless those kids are like my friends children, Luxury Travel Mom Kim-Marie, who have always been delightful dinner guests since they were old enough to feed themselves).
I just think we all just need to be nicer to each other and to live and let live with a smile and some common courtesy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This editorial was inspired by two news stories:
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