Rudely raised?

How does that work? Do folks intend to raise rude children? Do they not know? Do they not care?

Darling hubby’s two older sisters invited us to the Riverbanks Zoo for the Lights Before Xmas

They open up the zoo after hours and you walk about and admire the stunning array of lights that they have everywhere. As a bonus, you get to see any of the zoo creatures who happen to still be up.

It’s understandably crowded, mostly with children of various ages, and everyone is moving thru the dark, craning their necks to see the lights, many pushing strollers. I myself was limping thru on my bad knee while being dragged by my overenthused 19month old.

Despite this it was pleasant … for a bit.

Then we got about halfway around and I started to notice something. Rude somethings. Gobs of them. We made it to the barnyard part (complete with pony rides) and I began to get jostled, stepped on, and stood in front of by other people’s children. Not one offered a “pardon me” or a “sorry”. These were older kids: 9-15 maybe. And they were just RUDE. Even my toddlers can say ‘excuse me’.

All of the parents (mostly moms) seemed oblivious. One met my gaze with a slight shrug/smile and a “well what can you do, he’s a teenager” look when her son almost knocked my knee-high daughter down for the second time. A father was looking right at his son when he plowed into me then walked off without a word. Then the dad did the same. Wow. What a man. I’m turned on.

It was clear what was happening. The older kids– typical of some of today’s television-and-videogame raised crowd - had gotten bored in the 8 minutes that had elapsed since they’d left their gameboys in the SUV. The bad part was that the parents did absolutely nothing. Worse, they apparently thought that no action was required.

Is this the results of our latest ‘parenting’? The ‘I’m not responsible for my own actions’ school of thought? Perhaps a 'my child almost knocked you down and didn’t excuse his sorry self but it’s somehow YOUR fault' attitude?

Are these the spawn of the no-turn-signal crowd? The lovely holiday shoppers who steal your parking place, cut in line, snatch the last item off the shelf in front of you?

Well, perhaps I’m the last of a dying breed. I would be mortified if my child behaved in any of the above manners. ‘Just being a kid’ and ‘she’s a teen, I can’t do anything with her’ are not excuses. They’re lame cop-outs and pathetic. If you’re my child you’ll behave like a respectable and responsible human being. It’s my JOB, as your Mum, to make sure you do.

It’s a shame that the animals were some of the better behaved creatures at the zoo that night.