Why is it my responsibility to take care of your children? I have my own child to take care of and I am very serious about it! Keep in mind, while you read this, I am not talking about teenagers. I am talking about children that don’t look to be a day over six or seven.

Today, while driving down my street, I had to stop and wait for two kids to stop kicking the ball across the street over a blind hill. Who knows if another person will be as courteous?  The other night, we had to stop and drive around some kids that were playing in the street and would not move for us.

It was late and there are no street lights on that part. One day, while at a four-way stop sign, a kid on a bicycle blew through the intersection without looking even once then he proceeded to fly across Dayton Boulevard like everybody should stop for him!  Good thing we were looking! Another day, I was driving up my road (a somewhat busy road for a residential area) and some kids were playing in their yard close to the street. The toddler walked out into the road and stopped. I stopped my car and looked for parents or some sort of guardian or adult. Not one in sight! I then honked the horn and waited for someone to come out. When no one did, I sternly told the toddler and the other little kids to go closer to the house and stay out of the road.

I know that there are so many parents out there that take good care of their children and I know that they can slip away from you and get away before you know it but this is an everyday occurrence.  Yes, we used to live in a world where kids could wander far from home and play in the streets and stay out after dark without any worries. But we don’t live there anymore. That is not a valid argument. That is just a way to make people feel better for not keeping an eye on their own children.  I don’t have to look after your kids, but I do. The person that stopped the car when the toddler was walking in the street didn’t have to be me. It could have been somebody that had bad intentions. Just please, think about those things when you let your children walk out the door alone. One of those days, there might not be anybody watching after your kids for you.  

Holly Hogan

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Holly, I feel you on this one.  I've been in your shoes many times, but have to say I haven't been as nice as you.  I had to play chicken with a group of kids in the street the other day who just looked at me when I pulled up on them, like I was the one in the way.  When I kept inching closer to them, the lightbulb went off and they moved out of the way.  I was in the grocery store the other day and saw a lady with a small child, who was screaming at the top of his lungs.  What was the mother doing but checking out cookies and crackers, not paying a bit of attention to her kid, which you could hear outside the building.  I happen to be in the aisle when the little monster started screaming.  I glanced at the mother, who just looked at me and went back to her shopping, ignoring the kid.  I had to walk the other way.  I can only take so much before I want to say "Are you going to take care of that or do you want me to?".  

When I was younger, if I pulled a stunt like that for 2 seconds, I got a smack.  When I was younger, times were different sure, but Im not sure what happened between then and now making folks think they dont have to parent their kids.  Where did all this time out crap come from?  That's the dumbest thing Ive ever heard.  What would straighten you up...sitting quietly on a timeout bench or getting the wraith of your dad's belt?  I was fortunate to have the parents I did.  I got some smacks in my day when I was doing something stupid, but it made me act right.  I think somewhere along the way, many people got lazier and dumber, sad to say.  

Maybe it's technology, who knows.  When I was a kid, you didnt have cell phones and computers and all those ways to get in trouble and be a spoiled brat.  I dont know whats happened.  Sadly, with the way the world is today, most people are not smart enough to raise a kid properly.  Unfortunately, that dumb kid will turn around and have another dumb kid.  Don't get me wrong, I love kids...well behaved kids.  I know kids arent angels and kids get into stuff, make as much noise as they can, etc.  But its up to the parents to raise the kid so it knows what is acceptable behavior.  I get so tired of reading news about kids playing with guns and shooting themselves, because the parents werent watching...little boys dying outside on a slip and slide because the mother is on drugs and not watching her kids, blah blah blah.  I pray some of these parents get a clue and learn how to raise their kids.  

Bo Denson

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I worked in retail for many years and saw, first hand, what I believe to be very few parents and many breeders. 

The offspring of the "breeders" are what we all have to watch out for.

Brenda Williams

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I have gotten so fed up with these parents that I’ve started to call them out in public. Case in point : I went out to dinner with a friend and was having a great time - until a couple walks in and turns their three devil-seed creatures loose on everyone. 

After a half an hour ( while they were playing with the utensils on the salad bar )  I had enough. I said in a loud voice, “If you won’t  leave your critters outside on a leash, the least you can do is put them in a cage when you bring them indoors.“

Everyone in the room, except them, thought it was a rather witty  observation. They left very shortly after that comment.

Aulcie Smith