Whether or not you're a parent, I'm sure you have some idea of what "good" and "bad" parenting looks like. Apparently, there are some signs that might indicate trashy parenting, and members of the BuzzFeed Community weren't afraid to call them out. Here are some of the responses that you may or may not agree with:
1. "People who expect others to make exceptions to accommodate their kids. If someone says that a certain event is adults only, find a sitter or don't come. Don't just rock up with your kid and expect people to make exceptions for you. This is also true about parents who demand that strangers give up their airplane seats for their kids. If you want to sit together, book the seats. Don't disrupt other people's journeys."
2. "The parents who kick their kids out the second they turn 18. They're always reinforcing to their kid that they're a child until they turn 18, and suddenly it's, 'You're grown now — now go do all the adult things I never taught you how to do.'"
3. "Parents who berate their children in public. I had a woman come through my line with her two sons and her mother. The first thing she did was apologize for her sons' bad manners because 'their father didn't teach them any.' Her mother then started screaming at the boys and told the woman that they were driving her crazy. Mind you, all they were doing was bagging groceries. They were being good kids, and the mother and grandmother were just so terrible to them. Meanwhile, the next parent in line had their daughter with them, and they were asking her about her day and were just generally being kind and supportive. I told the parent, 'Thank you for being a good parent.' The woman with her sons heard me, grabbed her bags, and left in a huff."
4. "Parents who give their kids grief for not going to school when they're sick. My mom used to do this to me all the time. She'd say, 'You didn't even try to go to school.' Like, sorry, Mom, I spent the day alternating between napping and throwing up."
5. "A few years back, the job I had was only a 10-minute walk from home. On nice days, I would just walk over instead of wasting gas. I would pass through a mall parking lot on the way to work, and I was shocked by how many parents just dump their kids out there each morning. During summertime, I'd see cars pull up with 12- to 16-year-olds getting out. The mall wouldn't be open for another two hours, yet the kids were just left to wander around. I'd then see the same parents picking them back up after my shift — a whole nine hours later. It was amazing how I'd see the same kids every single day."
6. "Parents who body-shame their kids."
7. "When it's cold outside and the parents are wearing jackets, but the kids or babies aren't. They're not wearing socks or anything, just a onesie. Multiple times, I've heard a parent say that their child won't stop crying, and my husband or I will have to tell them, 'It's cold, you're warm — you don't think they want to be warm too?' And the parents will respond with, 'They run hot' or 'They won't let me put on their jacket.' It's disgusting."
8. "Propping a blanket under a bottle so your 3-month-old can 'self-feed' in the baby swing that they practically LIVE in."
9. "Parents who complain and talk horribly about their kids, especially when it's because their kids are on a school break. You know the ones: 'My kids are driving me crazy!' 'I can't wait for school to start again,' etc. I have found that these types of parents are also usually the ones who berate teachers and gush about how easy a teacher's job must be. Please. You can't even cope with your child for a four-day weekend; meanwhile, your precious child's teacher is with them five days a week, eight hours a day."
10. "When a parent judges their child by their school grades or exam results. Even more so, when parents punish their child for 'allowing' their grades to drop or failing to get desired exam results, without seeing why that happened in the first place."
11. "For me, it's when parents don't ever try to educate their kids about having consideration for others. We live in a ground-floor apartment, and the neighbors' kids play right outside our front room window (like, sometimes they lean right up against it), try to peek inside, tap sticks against the windows, and yell and scream for ages as part of their play. Obviously, I don't expect children to be angels or be silent all the time, but when I was young, I was taught to respect other people's property and space and not to make so much noise that you're disturbing people. It was a very easy rule for me to understand. But nowadays? If you try to enforce that, people will say things like, 'Let kids be kids. Stop trying to ruin their fun.' I'm not trying to ruin childhoods, but I'm just suggesting that parents teach their kids to have some basic manners and respect for others."
12. "Swearing around your kids in general. I know people feel entitled to say whatever they want and feel so brilliant and badass when they drop the f-bomb in place of every adjective and verb, but to do so in front of your young children or direct it at them is the definition of trashy. There are a lot of things you're allowed to do as an adult, but if it's not age appropriate, don't do it in front of or within earshot of your children — even if it's 'just swearing.'"
13. "Smoking (cigarettes, weed, or both) in the house with your child or in an enclosed car. Do what you want with your own lungs, but don't inflict respiratory issues and an increased risk of SIDS on your child, please."
14. "If I see some sweet tiny baby or toddler wearing sexualized attire, I immediately know that their parents are trash. It's not funny or cute at all."
15. "Parents who always look well put together (nice clothes, hair done, etc.), but their kids ALWAYS look like they've been playing at the local dump. I'm not talking about kids who were dressed nicely, started playing, THEN got dirty — I'm talking about the ones dressed in old and stained clothes and who have dirty faces and tangled hair."
16. "When parents take their children anywhere and expect other people to look out for them."
—gab
17. Lastly: "When parents let their child throw huge tantrums to the point of destruction in public places and don't do anything about it. Like, I get that you have to shop, but once, I'd just finished straightening up a whole aisle that had taken forever. Well, some kid was pissed that his mom wouldn't leave, so he took his arm and swept every item off the shelf. She didn't react, so he did it again. She didn't make him clean it up — nor did she apologize to me."
I don't know about y'all, but I've definitely seen some of these while out and about. Do you agree that these are signs of "trashy" parenting, though? What are some things you see a parent doing that don't sit right with you? Let me know down in the comments, or you can submit anonymously using this Google form!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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