An Inconvenient Truth: Small Children

So the title was more of an attention getter, I should probably retitle this post something along the lines of poor parenting or ill-behaved small children. But, many small children fit this generalized mold.

Spring break is supposed to be a time of relaxation. My family went down to the Florida Keys for just that reason. We hoped to sleep in late, lay pool side, and go out to dinner at night. Who knew that poor parenting and angry toddlers could ruin all of this. Conveniently enough, the unit next to ours housed about seven little youngsters, one of whom decided 8 am was the perfect time to have an out of body experience, every, single morning. We had our own vacation alarm clock. Well now that we're up so early we might as well head to the pool and relax. But as luck would have it, non-potty-trained kids and pools are not a good mix, so much for taking a swim. To make matters worse there are now 60 plus angry, bored, tired, and hungry little tots swarming around the pool area. At least we can enjoy a nice dinner together as a family at a nice restaurant, granted this table of seven kids next to us doesn't act up, which of course they do. Not only do they scream through the entire dinner, but they get up and run around playing tag throughout a nice seafood restaurants, while the parents stare at their drinks and pretend its not their kids ruining the peace. We ran into similar problems on the flight back home, luckily the flight attendants drink cart confined the disgruntled little demon to the back of the plane.

I wasn't very fond of small children before this...

What bothers me so much, is that in every instance the parents didn't do anything. In complete disregard of anyone around them, they just let their kids run around and misbehave. Is it so hard to understand that the world isn't one giant playground? I know that I was young once too, but according to my parents I had very few of these disruptive, public meltdowns. On the occasion I did, they left the restaurant/pool as a courtesy to the other people. What does it say about our culture if its the norm for all young children to be ill-mannered?

All it takes is a little preparation on the parents part to keep their children under control. For example at restaurants don't assume they cater to kids, bring a little bag of crayons or toys, just something to keep them occupy them. The same thing applies for airplanes, bring a few snacks and things to distract them with. For the pool, always have your toddler wear a swim diaper, that's just a given. I mean seriously, come on people. Lastly, it is understood that they are only children and not perfect, but if you're child decides it's time to scream, sob, and act out, just take them home, or into private so you can calm them down.