Armchair Parenting
Jan 13th, 2008
I’m in the San Francisco Bay area this week, down from Portland for the annual Macworld trade show. If you’re at the show, come say “hi” at booth S313. (It’s a crazy week for those of us who work in the Mac industry–if I don’t get a chance to blog again before January 20, I would not be surprised.)
Yesterday I went out to brunch with my very good friends Greg and Yunor (Greg is the “boss” of me, Yunor is his partner) and our friend Sean, also down for Macworld. We were at a pretty funky neighborhood joint in Castro Valley called JDs. We sat outside (yay, California!), a couple of tables away from a big family.
While we were waiting for our food, Yunor noticed that the little girl at that table, who was about 4, had wandered over to an empty table, picked up the salt and pepper shakers and licked the tops of them. [Pause for you to say “Eww”.] None of the adults at her table seemed to have noticed what she was doing.
Yunor let the waitress know, and she promptly removed the shakers from the table. The incident prompted discussion amongst the four of us (and the waitress) on the classic theme of “What is wrong with those parents?” and its accompanying riffs:
- “How could they just let her roam around the restaurant?”
- “My parents would never let me get away with that.”
- “Don’t you hate how some parents have no clue how inconsiderate they are?”
I started to feel a little sheepish about being a bit judgmental, and said, “Actually, sometimes when I’m out with the niece/nephews, letting them run around a bit, I wonder if people are saying the same things about me.”
Everyone else at the table is thinking about starting a family. I’m sure when they have kids, there will be moments out in public where total strangers will think “What is wrong with THOSE parents?” I’ve definitely learned, from observing parenting up close, that it’s an ever-changing mixture of art and science. Kids don’t behave and sometimes there is nothing you can do about it.
Still, I am pretty sure that I’ve never let Jack-Jack lick the tops of salt shakers while we have been out… and my parents certainly would have never let me do that. 