Judge Thy Fellow Parents Not

So we are walking down Main Street, on our way to Seal Beach pier – where we often find ourselves on a weekend afternoon – and we are behind this couple with 2 young boys, maybe 5-7 years of age. Now, the boys are obviously misbehaving to some extent because the parents are holding them close, and speaking loudly to them.

As we get closer to them, I notice the mother and father were holding the young boys by their wrists, and the boys were complaining, “it hurts! it hurts!”. The Dad, in his attempt to calm the boys, and keep them from running a muck, simply replies: “No pain, only obey”, “No pain, only obedience”. Coincidentally, in front of us, but also behind the couple with the boys, was another couple. They were young, looked newly married, or just dating, and more or less like they didn’t have kids. They stopped while we and the couple with the kids continued, but I could hear them talking to each other and laughing “No pain, only obey” as they mocked the couple with the kids.

As I watched this whole episode unfold, my mind wondered in interesting places. At first, I thought, “ok, that’s a strange way to teach the kids, or get them to behave”, but I let it slide, knowing that parenting is such a hard task in and of it’s self, I put myself in their shows, and knew that I wouldn’t know what to do either. Then, I thought, “how interesting that this couple is making fun of them, they have no clue what it’s like to raise kids, and no clue how difficult it is”. I’m only three months into it, and I can already begin to imagine what it must be like to have older kids. Then I thought, “how funny, only months ago that would have been me mocking them, but now I understand”.

So, I hear by vow, I will no longer judge other parents, and their parenting tactics. I understand in a small way, that parenting is the most difficult activity anybody could undertake. Therefore my hats off to anyone who attempts it.