I took the boys to Wendy’s for dinner tonight. A little treat. While I was waiting for the food at the counter, they went to get a table. Also as I was waiting, another family came in. They had two boys, one a little older than my oldest, the other a little younger than my youngest.

They ordered kids meals for their boys, and specified ‘no toys’ to the server. I thought, geez, those kids must have done something really bad this afternoon. Then the parents ordered milk with the meals and I realized they were just nasty parents.

When I take the boys out, it’s usually for fun. They aren’t getting a real meal from a fast food place anyway, so why bother with the pretense of milk? Geez. And no toys. What meanies.

They sat at a table near us. Their boys were completely silent and sat still at the table, something mine rarely do. But it did make me wonder what sort of discipline is handed out in that family. I’m guessing there are a lot more swats than there are time outs. The parents never condescended to actually speak to the boys, they just talked to each other.

Some parents treat their kids like pets. It annoys the shit out of me. They act like they own these kids and that they can be trained and that they better do their tricks right if they want treats. It’s perverse. What ever happened to unconditional love? What ever happened to kids will be kids? What ever happened to childhood? I feel so sorry for those boys and hope they have good therapists later in life.