Parenting today......

R

rgp

Well-known Member
Location
Milford,OH
Today on talk radio, there was an airline pilot talking about all the unescorted kids that fly these days. Kids alone, on an airplane filled with strangers, and their responsibility now that of the flight attendants . He claims to have seen several on flights he has piloted, in a single day.

Then I saw a commercial on TV where a person [parent(s)] can buy an app for their phone, that helps them locate a babysitter in their area . So mom & dad are going out for the day/evening & they are ready & willing to trust the care of their child/children to a total stranger, found on the internet.

Then last but not least, a national TV network, & other forms of media, [I do not remember all the names] so I won't mention any. Have suggested that in an attempt to not leave children in the car, on hot days. It might be a good idea to leave something important in the back seat with them .......... let that sink in for a moment ........ something important !? Cell phone, purse,etc. What the hell is/should be, more important than ones child ?

Were my parents perfect ? Probably not........but I am glad I had them.
 

I cannot understand what goes on in some people's heads as to the choices they make pertaining to their kids. .... just a little too bizarre for me.
The kids that grow up and survive this type of parenting, I really wish them well ... and better skills if/when they have children of their own.
 
Somewhere along the way ... this has been forgotten ...

iu
 

As someone who has picked up and dropped off unescorted minors who've come to vacation at my house in Sunny Southern California, I do know something about this. To begin with, parents pay a significant fee for their child's special handling. When they arrive at the airport the releasing party has to show ID, get a special pass to go through TSA without a flight ticket, and must remain with the child until a crew member boards the child. Then the adult must wait at the gate until the plane has been closed up and pushed back before leaving the airport.

The child is checked frequently during the flight. Upon landing, the child waits until the plane has been completely emptied of passengers and is then escorted by airline personnel to meet the receiving party. Again, ID must be submitted, forms filled out, and then finally the child is released to that person.

As for locating a babysitter on the Internet. There are all kinds of morons out there. Just because some get spotlighted doesn't mean most or even many parents are similarly irresponsible.

After all, good parents aren't newsworthy.

When I was growing up there were plenty of "latch-key kids" whose parents both worked and the kids went home to an empty house after school. Kids in elementary through HS age. These days those parents would be considered neglectful.
 
I'm shocked there's enough need for a babysitting app. People still use babysitters?? Not here. People bring their kids everywhere. Bars, comedy clubs, all kinds of places that were considered "adult" oriented in years past. Nothing seems to be off limits to kids anymore and I'm not so sure that's a good thing.
 
Uptosnuff said:
I'm shocked there's enough need for a babysitting app. People still use babysitters?? Not here. People bring their kids everywhere. Bars, comedy clubs, all kinds of places that were considered "adult" oriented in years past. Nothing seems to be off limits to kids anymore and I'm not so sure that's a good thing.
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Me either .......... But it all boils down to parents that choose not to take the responsibility of being a parent seriously. In other words giving up the night life/fun life to be a parent. They refuse to be denied their time. Again I'll note ....... internet found babysitters.

I know a family where the eldest grandchild was part of a young parenting class in high school. She was given a 'computer-baby' , that had a wrist strap connection to guide the school in monitoring the interactions between the 'mother' / student and the baby. The first thing the student did was figure a way, to slip off the wrist strap, and leave it & the baby with grandma , so that she could go do her [thing] .

Well, here's a shocker ....... she [the student] ended up pregnant @ 16, momma by 17, and all during the rearing of the child, dropped him off to whom ever would take him. Fortunately he had an aunt [younger sister to the mother] who actually cared. She did all that she could, but still....... The kid is now 17+ and hates his mother.

The whole story is just too long to type here, but IMO sad at best.
 
My opinion on babysitters. The grandparents do it. Those little darlings are going to rule the roost. I picked two of mine up from daycare. There was a lady sitting at the desk, and she asked me if we had anything special planned. I said, "Not really, I guess whatever they want to do." She almost lost it.

On a more serious note, I hope my son is getting his money's worth. He told me he pays his babysitter about $50 when I or his wife's mom can't baby sit. For real?? I got 50 cents an hour when I baby sat.
 
When my kids were growing up we paid $6 per hour or more for babysitters. My kids are in their 30s now. Minimum wage here is $14.25, back then it was about $5.00 per hour.
So yeah, $50 for 4-5 hours these days would be about right.
 
rgp said:
Then last but not least, a national TV network, & other forms of media, [I do not remember all the names] so I won't mention any. Have suggested that in an attempt to not leave children in the car, on hot days. It might be a good idea to leave something important in the back seat with them .......... let that sink in for a moment ........ something important !? Cell phone, purse,etc. What the hell is/should be, more important than ones child ?
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Gramma would leave me in their black '50 chevy for hours...mid-summer while shopping 'Monkey Wards'
Big parking lot
I'm prolly 4 or 5 yrs old
'Now, don't roll that winda down, hear?'
Heh, soon 's she went outa sight, I jumped into the front seat, driver's side, window down, on my knees, hangin' my arm out.
Eyeing the rearview mirror for gramma.

Never bothered me none

tricker treat.jpg
 
I'm one of those Bad Parents who sent their children flying off by themselves. Yep, me, the Bad Parent.

What's worse, she took two flights by herself at the age of five. I put her on the plane at our end and Grandma picked her up at the other end. She survived. She was one of the most self-reliant kids you'd ever hope to see. It actually was her idea. She wanted to go to Grandma's and I couldn't get off work to take her. So she asked if she could fly.

I was so proud of her on her second flight. She heard an elderly couple debating on whether they were too scared to get on the plane and offered to sit with them and "hold their hands". And she did. And they were grateful.

This is the one who had her first job at 12. Then another one at 14. And was working for an airline at 16.

Everyone has to know the limits of their own children. I knew that mine didn't have much in the way of limits and I let her fly......

Oops, I forgot......I was a Bad Parent even before that. She flew in the arms of the pilot when she was four months old on a 747 from London to New York. 36 hours of traveling had turned me into a walking zombie and the crew on the 747 (seven passengers and, if I remember correctly, maybe 12 crew members) put me to bed in the upper lounge and babysat my child for three hours. I still have a polaroid somewhere of her sitting in the captain's seat, wearing his hat. All you could see were a pair of tiny legs sticking out from under the hat.

No wonder she went to work for the airlines at 16.
 

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