public displays of awful parenting

For this post title, the word "awful" can be substituted with "appalling", "terrible", "horrendous" and/or "atrocious". Take your pick.

Being a parent...it truly is a gift from God. That's why I have to wonder sometimes why He allows such awful people to become parents. I know the answer really...it's all part of the plan, even for those kids, but it still gets me everytime when I see public displays of truly awful parenting.

A few weeks ago, I came across two of these instances right in my own pediatrician's office. A woman came in with her teenage daughter, both looked miserable. Mom looked like she just crawled out of bed and only because she had to drive her daughter to the doctor. Daughter checked herself in while mom went to sit down. A few seconds after they were sitting there, mom basically dumped her purse on the seat because she couldn't find the insurance card. I honestly don't know how she could find anything based on the mess. She turned to her daughter and said in a very annoyed and demanding tone, "I can't find the insurance card, go to the car and look for it. I can't go all the way back out there." I'm not sure why mom couldn't go look for it but I think it had to do with the fact that she could barely make it in the door in the first place. She didn't look as though she could handle much. So, without saying a word, daughter gets the keys out of the mess, gets up and heads for the door. I think she rolled her eyes, which is why I guess mom felt compelled to look at me and Camryn and say to Camryn, "Don't grow up to be like her." Nice huh? I didn't see if her daughter reacted. I was hoping she didn't hear it. What a freakin' loser.

The second example of stellar parenting skills was displayed by a dad of a preschool-age boy. Dad was in the waiting room while mom and son were being seen. When they came out to leave, the boy ran up to his dad and reached out to hold his hand for the walk out of the office. Dad shoved, literally shoved the boy's hand away and told him that "boys don't hold other boys' hands". What?! I couldn't believe what I heard. The little boy looked completely defeated, like he did something wrong. Mom then says to dad, "don't say that" and I could see her looking around in embarrassment. Dad replies with more of the same, but in a louder more annoyed tone. The entire office now knew that it was clearly not okay for his little boy to want to hold his hand. And now his little boy knew for sure that he had done something wrong because now mommy and daddy are arguing with each other. I swear...what the hell is wrong with people?

And today, while in Wal-Mart, I heard a mom tell her son that she was going to "beat his ass" if he didn't "shut-up". He looked to be about 4 and was singing while riding in the cart. I'm not a violent person but I wanted to physically hurt her, but before that I would tell her what a low-life, disgusting person she is.