Things you can't stand about children
 

We all hear about just how wonderful and magnificent the little buggers are.

Well, I for one find myself routinely annoyed by children. I can usually tolerate it, but this is the last straw.

I am sitting in my room right now, and through my open window, all I have heard for the past hour is an ear-screeching rendition of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" attempted to be played one on of those cheap-ass plastic, standard elementary school issued recorders. Never before have I envied Helen Keller to the extent that I do right now.

What is it that kids do that you find absolutely unbearable?

i'm very rarely annoyed at children. I frequently want to throttle their parents.

quoted for absolute truth

Amen.

Children, especially those under 5, are largely the product of their environment and the behavior that has been modeled for them. If they've never been taught that a thing is inappropriate, they're not to blame for their ignorance--their parents are.

For instance, I know a kid who must sleep with a nightlight. This became a problem when he tried to sleep over at someone else's house (I was babysitting them at the time). His friends didn't want to sleep with a nightlight, and he refused to go to bed without one. And it really isn't his fault--he's 9. It is his parents' fault for enabling him to go with a nightlight for so long. If they'd weaned him off the nightlight when he was younger, he wouldn't have this problem now.

Parents dictate how their children behave. If they aren't willing to set boundaries and play the bad guy once in a while, of course there are going to be problems.

Ungrateful kids. For example: I've witnessed children of my own family open presents at Christmas and then say "where's the rest?" after they opened 15 presents.

Kids who simply straight up don't listen. You tell them to do something, they grin and don't do it.

Kids who scream or cry the moment they don't get their way. Kids who whine constantly.

So basically I don't actually hate the kids, I hate the terrible parents.

I am young, therefore I hate kids. I hate the following:

-Kids who hang off of you.
-Kids who are overly violent
-How kids are obsessed with growing up fast
- Constant lying
- Dirty hands and faces; all over our hands and faces
- Super precocious kids


Mostly I am annoyed easily by anything or one with a lack of social skills and kids lack them. Plus, when I was little I had a lot of respect for the older kids (ie: fear of God) and now kids have no respect... at all.

I realize they are merely the mirrors of our society and their parents but as I said, I'm young, and have a low tolerance for unhappy things.

my 13 year old cousin came to visit with her family while i was back in au and i had to surrender my bed since not only does she need a light on while she sleeps she also needs to have vacant space between her bed and her parents´ bed ie next room and her door and parents´ door open....

I just gotta go with the parents thing, Kids are victims of their upbringing. Kids are the instruments to the horrible band members that are their parents.

What is it that kids do that you find absolutely unbearable?

Snot.

I dislike how they are the center of their own little worlds. I know it's natural, and I know I went through it, too (probably still am that way, lol). But I dislike how oblivious and self-centered they can be about anything and anyone outside of themselves. (At least with the cousins I spend a minimal amount of time with, for that reason, in Iceland.) My kids will not be the center of my world, and they are just going to have to learn to deal with that.

I can't stand that I can't father a thousand of them.

Their inability to listen to reason.

I don't like kids. Simple as that. They're selfish, irrational, and annoying, while also being unbearably filthy. I understand I used to be a stupid little kid, but that doesn't make them any less unbearable.

If I must continue forth and have a child, I think I'll just adopt an 18-year-old Asian girl.

It worked out for Woody Allen.

Bodily excretions.

Hoozah!

I generally don't like other people's kids.

My own kids are fine (except for when they are bickering with each other).

I don't like that I can't backhand them when they kick me.

I like kids mostly. They can be annoying...but that is really down to how they are educated by their parents.

I don't like it when kids whine loudly. I don't like it when kids scream when they don't get what they want. I don't like it when kids are violent, particularly to animals. I don't like it when I can see a kid is clearly manipulating their parent and the parent is oblivious.

Otherwise I find kids fascinating. The way you can make a kid's day simply by talking to them about stuff they enjoy. The way they have fun with the smallest of things. The way their faces light up with a grin when they realise you can get on their level and be a big kid yourself. The way they will open up to you for just talking to them for a few minutes. The way they will hug you or smile at you and totally mean it, the love they can transmit to you so unabashedly.

Kids are pretty honest. I like that.

it's pretty obvious that 95% of the people here aren't parents.

Well, yeah. To me, other people's kids = a reminder to stay vigilant on the birth control. :thumbsup: I think that when I start appreciating kids more, instead of seeing them as parasites, we might be ready to think about having some. Maybe.

This strongly varies from child to child. Again, a large part of this is parental influence--do parents say "We don't do this because of x, y, and z" and bother to explain why, or do they just say, "Do x because I told you so." Children who receive the former versus the latter are much more likely to listen to reason because they're used to it.

And yes, I love kids, but they make great birth control reminders!

What does the above statement have to do with the topic of the thread?

My opinion:
I don't like being forced, by relatives, to "talk" to their 2 and 3 year olds on the telephone. It means nothing to anyone, and only the parents can begin to understand the child-talk of their own children. So, I'm in agreement that the problem is with the parents.

I disagree with the argument that the problem is with the parents. Or, I don't agree with it entirely.

These same problems aren't nearly as common between adults. They normally occur between adults and children. (i.e. if it weren't for them being children, there would be fewer problems.)

Edit: The problem in these cases is between the adults and the children. Responsibility and blame is another thing entirely.

it's an observation that people who hate kids are people who don't have kids.

Yeah, that would annoy me too. I have kids. I've never put either of my kids on the line unless the caller asked to talk to them.

I agree. The problem is between the kids and the annoyed adults. Assigning responsibility/blame may involve the kids, the annoyed adults, the parents, or a combination of the previous three.

Now you're jumping to "hating kids", so it seems as if you are trying to start an argument.

I'll add another observation. I have observed my relatives laughing at things their children do that are unpleasant to others. I don't think that the parents are always aware of how unpleasant the preventable actions can be. For example, when my niece was about 6 she would grab my leg, sit on the floor and hang on. I would say let go, and the parents would laugh. Their laugher reinforced her bad behavior, which may have been a game that her parents played with her. For me to physically remove her would have been unacceptable behavior so I just had to endure. So, I think parents need to be more aware, that's all.

I'm not a father right now, though eventually that's going to change, so I expect my opinion of kids will change.

Right now I can't stand kids. They're annoying, immature little humans that constantly run around, make lots of noise, and otherwise prevent me from enjoying life. Thankfully I don't routinely encounter or interact with kids that often in my daily routine, but when I do, say on vacation or when traveling, it sucks.

I'm hoping that my kids won't be like most of the kids I deal with. I'd be willing to put up with some brutal honesty about my kids if it would make me a better parent.

The above seems like: "Kids will be kids, deal with it."

I'm a parent. I believe that children need to learn what is appropriate and what is not in social situations. If you said, "let go" and one of my kids didn't let go, I would put my son or daughter in a "time out." Whether or not the child is too young to understand, the parents should be more aware.

You should have removed her. If one of my kids did that, I would expect you to, then they'd get more from me.
Another example of "it's the parents, not the kid". Your not removing her and allowing it to go reinforced it as much as the parents' laughter. A simple, "I don't find this amusing or comfortable. Let go of me now" then physically removing her would have gone a long way.
A very long time ago, while shopping in a sewing store, a friend's kid called me, then ran up and stuck me in the leg with a straight pin. I smacked his hand. Hard. He went running to mommy crying I'd hit him. She asked, "what'd you do?" When I said "The little brat stabbed me in the leg with a straight pin", she told HIM, "that's what you get for doing that".

There's no law that says those of us who don't like brats have to tolerate them. If I'm annoyed, someone's gonna know it.

Jumping? Notice the thread title. I'm not trying to start an argument. I'm just making an observation

Yes, definitely. If I'm screwing up as a parent, I want someone (in a position of respect/authority) to tell me that.

I'm also afraid, though, of the grandparents (our parents) spoiling our kids... I don't see any of them being particularly strict on the kids, just indulging them mostly... and I wonder if that kind of thing influences kids' behavior much, if their main caretakers/babysitters are their indulgent grandparents? Where is the trade-off between expensive, strict daycare and free, indulgent grandparents as babysitters?

The problem is that most parents *don't* want brutal honesty. They lose all perspective when it comes to their kids.

With my brother and his wife and the whole disfunctional family stuff, and my brother being the "golden child" this was not possible. Other times when I wanted a behavior to stop and I expressed this to my brother's wife, she laughed at me knowing that she had "gotten" me.

You are right, in any other situation and any other child I would have stopped it on the spot. I guess it's not the same to include family issues in a thread about the behavior of children in general.

I think this is correct. I have a very good friend who could see no wrong in his daughter. Kid ended up on drugs and totally screwed up. We went on extended vacation as families for a years. Had to stop to keep my kid away from the insanity.

Um, dude your 13 yrs. old is drunk.

Yeah, she got the drinks mixed up down at the pool, was complete accident.


That kid had a A LOT of accidents such as this, was always some else's fault.

I can't stand their little hands and tiny fingers.
Stupid kids, why can't they have normal hands like everyone else?
Their oversized heads and stubby body parts fill me with revulsion.
They should be harvested for food.

I would offer that if your parents did a good job of raising you, they'd do a good job of raising your kids. My grandma played a big role in helping to take care of me, and I'd like to think that I turned out pretty well. Mind you, this is based on an extremely limited world-view, so the norm may be totally different.

Their parents. Through all the years of coaching soccer and baseball, I can't recall anything I didn't like about any of the kids I coached. I loathed many of the parents though.

I had kids who never missed a practice or a game. Yet I never saw their parents other than when they would drive up to pick them up after practice or games.

When the kids couldn't seem to get along, I could always seem to get them to work together. I saw several parents ejected from the field by umpires and referees.

The kids always seemed to be accepting of each other. You wouldn't believe the narrow minded racist parents and the things I heard them say.

But hey... If kids being kids is the biggest thing that can get under your skin these days, everything else should be cake. :thumbsup:

Well, a big part of the reason I turned out semi-okay is because my mom had my stepdad to balance her out. They split up as soon as I left for college, and so if I ever leave our future kids at her house, it's going to be just her taking care of them... my stepdad would not be around (he would get his own time with them, but not at the same house obviously). I'm afraid of what she would be like without his balancing presence there. I would have turned out as one EXTREMELY screwed-up adult if my mom had been left to her own devices with me, that's guaranteed.

Also, my grandma lived in our house while I was growing up, and that was a huge help... but she and my mom are like night and day, in terms of personality, maturity, patience, and all the rest. My mom has some mood disorders. My grandma was like a Zen master.

Soylent Green....

I hate it that they don't listen to reason, as Guru Stated.

But I love kids, and can not wait to have some of my own! Actually I can wait, I want to travel the world first, then have lots!

I hate it when they just don't listen, and when they are lazy little shits and do not clean up after themselves when they know that they should. While I am not a biological father I did date a girl for 3 years who has a child (now 6) and am still excellent friends with her. So I pretty much was a dad for that time, I am still more of a dad to him than his own father. Amazing kid, love him lots and he gets compliments on how well behaved he is. But he still does shit that makes me just want to strangle him, you need lots of patients to have a child.

All I could think of as a child was how adults never understood us, even though they used to be children. And now I think back on that and just laugh, cause I have a seriously hard time thinking like a kid, I expect them to be like me, and think like I do at times, but that just isn't going to happen.

So yea, when they just don't see reason, and do shit that they know is wrong and try to get away with it. drives me insane!

Nothing.


Not anymore.

Agreed.

Until I had a child I totally did not understand children or what it is like to live in "their world", which is what your world becomes when you have them.

My own kids:

o Whining. I cannot *stand* whining. One of my kids in particular is very whiny, and no matter how many times I shut him down, help him get calmed down, and get him to ask for what he wants *nicely*, it's back to whining the very next time.

o Disrespect. A different child this time (the one that's almost a teenager...). He's quickly developing 'respect' issues when talking to his mother and I. And again, every time I shut him down, but it doesn't seem to be having an effect.

o Poor behavior in public. Yes, that is *my* child throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of the grocery store. Yes, I'll deal with it. Yes, the consequences will be severe. Yes, it *will* happen again.

o Doing Dumb Shit. "You did *what* to the cat?"


Other people's kids:

Same as above, except I blame the parents instead of the kids. :-)

which is exactly what i hate about kids. i don't want to have to change my life for kids, make them the center of my life. don't get me wrong, there 's a lot of other things i don't like about them, but i think that falls more on their parents, and my patience.

what i hate about kids is that i'm selfish. yeah, sums it up pretty nicely.

They remind me how to be real and in the moment, no pretense or bullshit.
Enjoying and absorbing life, eyes without a trace of guile.

I wonder how children can stand adults...
who have forgotten how (or never had the chance) to be children.

That's a big part of it. The child is beat out of us bit by bit. I think if we ran everywhere and jumped on the furniture, we'd be a much healthier society. Our stuff would look like shit, but we'd still know how play like a child, and most likely moving around much better past 30 and 40. On the other hand, have you noticed how slow kids pretend to be, especially in adolescence? Slow-talkin, slow-walkin imitations of cool? We imitate slow and end up slow.

Getting back to the OP, I can't stand some of the punk-ass-jerk tweener/teens (too harsh?). I guess because I do substitute teaching now and then, but what comes out of their mouths as normal conversation is a crime. I'm not a prude, I grew up in a very rough environment, and every generation has it's rebels, but what I'm talking about is a trend, a major breakdown in basic respect for other human beings.

It's really not their fault, I only blame the parents, but it's disturbing. It's not just stereotypical poor kids, some of the most privileged are the worst. Last week at our neighborhood pool, a teen (about 14) gets up, walks along real slow, acting real cool, and spits on the patio surrounding the pool. I get up and quietly say something to the guy explaining how I don't want my daughter walking through his spit and he says "fuck you" and laughs. The genius didn't know I was on the neighborhood association and I asked him to rephrase his comment or apologize. He repeated his previous remarks and I revoked his pool membership. So here comes the root cause ... mom calls me at my home demanding that I reinstate her son and apologize for embarrassing her. Junior is swimming somewhere else this summer.

The reaction of the mother not expecting the child to understand their responsibility, let alone take responsibility, is indicative of the trends I'm seeing. It's not the majority of kids that act like this, most are really smart and caring. But I can't help feeling like we're slipping toward greater inhumanity and indifference to respect of others.

Well I respect your opinion. Just make sure you don't ever find yourself being a father, even accidentally.

no kidding. i was just kinda amazed how well you summed up my thought about it, but from the (assumingly) opposite persective.

this is the most refreshingly honest post in this entire thread

At the risk of sounding very "when I was your age..." I hate that kids are so video-game oriented. Yes, I liked video games growing up, I still like them... but they aren't my life.

I also don't get the cartoons. I'm all about goofy cartoons, but some of the stuff on now...I totally don't get.

Oh, OH, and when kids order people around. I'm a server, and I've had tables where the kids treat me like shit (young kids, too, no older than eight), and the parents either ignore them or say something vague like "be nice," and that's it.

Again, this depends on the parents. Kids aren't going to pay for cable on their own, and obviously they're not going to acquire expensive video game consoles without parental assistance. Many of the families I babysit for don't have cable television or buy their children video game systems (the exception seems to be Leapfrog, which is educational). The one channel we get reliably via antenna here is Oregon Public Broadcasting, and so that's the only television channel a lot of kids around here get to watch.

Kids are not much different than adults. I find myself ROUTINELY annoyed by children. But even more than being annoyed by children; I'm more annoyed by adults.

So to answer the OP ... I find the same things annoying with regard to adults and children. I'll see your child's rendition of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and raise you with annoying adult upstairs who feels the need to stomp everywhere he goes--it shakes my whole apartment. Good thing we're buying another house soon.

At least children have the whole "don't have any objective reasoning" thing. It's not like they are being selfish on purpose. Adults on the other hand ... I don't know where people get their sense of entitlement.

<slight threadjack>

I am a very selfish person and I will always be. But (and I've said this before) since my daughter was born I have a certain drive that I didn't have before. It helps to have an awesome wife.

One thing that I enjoy about having a kid: I laugh at people who get annoyed by my kid especially at restaurants (unless my kid is doing something on purpose).

As for running around and jumping on furniture and being generally child-like ... we do that. Our couch is a nightmare ... but it's just stuff. Time with loved-ones can never be replaced; couches can.

</slight threadjack>

Ever see the Fawlty Towers episode with the spoiled kid who wants "salad dressing"? :) EDIT: I think the episode is called "Dinner with Andre."

Has it ever occurred to any of the posters here that when they were 3 or 5 years old, some bewildered adult somewhere was making the same observations about them, and blaming it on their parents?

It's the circle of life - unfortunately - and kids will be the same 95 years from now. Just the way it is...

I hate that even when they grow up there's still a very good chance they wont stop whining and complaining.

not a big fan of the screeming, screeching and crying. thankfully I don't encounter it alot.

Kids are little people. They're not fully developed, they don't know everything they need to get by in the world yet, and a lot of their parents do a shitty job of raising them, but in the end, they're just people.

I fucking hate people.

I laugh when children who are running around the dining area of a restaurant, trip and fall and start crying.

My real answer?

They're too expensive.

Yep. That's funny too.

It's even more fun if you do the tripping:

Thanks.... :expressionless:

I was just reminded of the "Breakdancer takes out kid" video.

I would post a link, but I'd feel bad since it's a bit shocking.

If you want to see it for yourself, be resourceful.

First time I saw the breakdancer video I wondered if it was real. That video is a little on the extreme side; but hey, at least it was an accident.

the marching band one was great. also shows how indestructible small kids can be....

was it wrong to find the breakdance video hilarious?

for what it's worth, i have two kids and i mostly hate everyone else's kids

Yes Derwood, I have found this to be true also.

More than anything else, I despise the attitude that it is everyone's duty to have children. The two main things to come from this are that too many people have kids who shouldn't and that people who either don't want them or want to wait a long time are looked down on.

I do believe in fairies....
 

I actually cringe when my daughter wants her friends to come over to our house

Parents. Especially those that think they're on some sort of mission to make the planet safe for children. I've spent the majority of my lifetime as an adult, and I have zero interest in living in a G-rated world.

Incidentally, I'm spending more time now at a music store where lessons are given, and I've found that I'm not the slightest bit bothered by kids being musical (or attempting to be musical). That actually surprised me because adults who are poor musicians bug the heck out of me, but I guess that just goes to show.

I don't hate kids. As some people have pointed out, it's the parents who are usually at fault.

I think I hated kids even when I was one...

I've been staying in my SO's dorm while in Germany and there is a kinder garden right outside the building and all day from about 7am to 4pm I hear,
"HALLO! HALLO! HALLO!" and them just counting to 10 and screaming colors....
All f***ing day for the past two weeks.

I get annoyed with kids every single day of my working week. Some of the stuff they come up with is simply beyond comprehension. They can be rude, evil, crazy, selfish, clueless, ignorant, lazy, and can spoil your day with a single comment or action.

I am amazed and inspired by kids every single day of my working week. Some of the stuff they come up with is simply beyond comprehension. They can be polite, angelic, energetic, generous, insightful, brilliant, resourceful, and can make your week with a single comment or action.

Oh yeah, I'm a teacher. And I love my job. :)

i know some people hated my kids at the grocery store today. who boy, what a meltdown

I just remembered this story. Amusing, even if its truth is doubtful.
http://www.bash.org/?777977

Need to add another one to the list.

I hate when small children feel the need to run up and down the aisles of a store with their hands out to the side, slapping everything, and everyone, in their way.

I seriously can not stand when kids talk in baby voices.... like, your nine... we are aware that you can talk better then your two year old brother.

What he said.

thirded.

Honestly, I'm not around a lot of other kids. I've usually liked my children's friends. The only children that can annoy me are ones who are screaming and crying in stores while their parents do nothing. Like the parenting method is 'ignore them and they will stop.' Meanwhile you are ruining everyone else's day. And yes, I blame it on the parent. If your child is crying and/or screaming, take them out of the goddamned store. Yes, that calls for you to stop shopping and do something about it. Oh my...

I live very close to a store that made national headlines a couple of years ago when they posted a note in the window that reads (and I'm paraphrasing) "Children of all ages are reminded to use their indoor voices". A few neighborhood moms took umbrage to it and, well, the New York Times picked up the story.

We've taken our boys there a few times - they have great ice cream. But if one of them starts to melt down (Max, more likely than not), then we leave. Pure and simple. He knows the rules, and part of parenting is teaching that actions have consequences. It sucks, and we've had to leave half-eaten meals. That said, if a place is "child-friendly" (and lots of places are), I would say that half of our melt-downs occur because the restaurant screws up, not our kids. We order food for kids as soon as the waiter/ress appears to get ahead of the curve, but if you wait 30 minutes for chicken fingers, something's wrong in the back room. I got in a shouting match over the phone with a restaurant manager about 2 months ago after we left after waiting 40 minutes for scrambled eggs for Max - all the other food came out, but not his. So as we left - with everything boxed up and ate at home. And they charged us for the eggs that never came.

In my house, meltdowns happen because someone's hungry, uncomfortable, bored or not feeling well. We can fix 3 of those easily in most cases. If we can't, we have to leave. If other parents can't understand that, shame on them.

Beyond that, this thread is just an excuse to bash anonymous people.

i think this thread is just a frame around giant hamburgers post above, which is repeat for it's beauty:

There is delicious irony in this sentence.

Ok get this shit. I ate with my parents this past weekend at a nice pizza restaurant. One of our family friends that we hadn't seen in 10 years brought two of her sons with her, 18 and 12. When we got there my dad ordered a choco milkshake. The 12-year old demanded a milkshake from his mom. "I want a chocolate milkshake." She said no, you're eating pizza, that's too unhealthy. So this brat screams "I WANT A MILKSHAKE!!" She says no again and we all sit down.

He has this look on his face like he just fell 10 feet before the finish line at a race. His mom asks what's wrong and he mutters under his breath in an evil voice, "I. want. A. MILKSHAKE. GET ME ONE. NOW."

HA HA HA HA good god I was trying not to laugh at this point. His mom says no again and then he STARTS CRYING!!!!!!!!! "WHY WON'T YOU LET ME HAVE A MILKSHAKE!!!!!!" 12 years old ladies and gentlemen, CRYING over a milkshake. Guess what? He got one. ARGHHHH WORST PARENT EVER

You should have laughed.

Or you should have given the kid a high-five.

This is an issue with me right now. My daughter is nine. And she has taken to whining 'pleeeease' when I tell her no. So we have a system.

She asks for something ridiculous. Say a Wii or a $5.00 ice cream cone.

I say no.

She says please.

I say no again and explain why.

She:
1. drops it
or
2. says 'pleeeease'

if 2, I give her the eye

She:
1. drops it (if she's in the groove)
or
2. says 'pleeeeease' again

if 2, I say: 'are you out of your mind?!' (sometimes with a mild expletive, depending on many times this has happened that day) :p
and she gets punished, either grounded from playing with friends or favorite pastimes like computer and Nintendo DS.

I think repeatedly asking for something from your parents when they have said no and explained why is extremely rude. It's a huge pet peeve of mine and I won't tolerate it. My youngest daughter, though, seems to have a real weakness for it. And it seems to have escalated in frequency all of a sudden. Not sure where she got it from, television or school, but it's gonna stop. I can't stand that shit.

/end possible threadjack

Part of me really wishes you'd start all your posts this way, especially in the video card thread. Like a trademark.
Jesus, 12?! For perspective, I was sexually active at 13, and using a condom. Now that's a study in contrast!

I used to find tantrumming kids pathetic and funny. I thought: "Do you really think that I am so easily manipulated?". Then I worked on locked unit in residential treatment. Their tantrums weren't so funny.

Edit: Now that I think about it, it was my experiences in residential treatment that made me realize that most tantrums are funny. "You really need to step it up. That kicking and screaming of yours isn't very impressive."

I want to say it's worse when adults do it, but at least you can tell them to shut the fuck up.

You should've drank his milkshake.

*Baraka_Guru's respect for mixedmedia = + + + + +*


* * * * *

damn, skippy

I don't. Why should they? :lol:

Regardless....

*Baraka_Guru's respect for mixedmedia = + + + + +* :thumbsup:


If I'm ever a parent, I hope I adopt your program. That's how I'd like to see myself handling such situations, anyway.

thanks :)

just remember, healthy doses of cynicism and sarcasm will equip you well for the rigors of dealing with the minds of children

And THAT assures me that I might do an okay job at motherhood. :thumbsup: It sure helped me survive the demands of classroom management!

I HATE to repeat myself to kids. I have babysat tons over the years and got respect from them, they learned I DO NOT repeat myself, and they learned not to mess with me if I give them THE LOOK, but they also learned that we can have a lot of fun. I am pretty good with kids. I love that they are in the discovery stage and I love that I can help them discover things. I love playing games and having fun and I loved being a kid-(but stopped being a kid around 10 when I discovered guys and became insanely obsessed with sex).

I now have a one year old and a two year old and unfortunately you HAVE to repeat yourself to this age and they don't understand THE LOOK yet. Although just in the past week my daughter who is approaching 3 but acts much older has started to get the idea, because I have stopped looking at her as a toddler and started looking at her as a preschooler, which means she gets a lot less slack form me.

It is hard to be a parent today, tons of people say don't ever hit a child, tons of people say it is the only way to gain respect.

Bottom line is there MUST be consequences for bad behavior and the child must HATE the consequences. If they giggle when you put them in time out, time out doesn't work. If they scream and cry or just pout in time out-its working. Different things work with different kids, and different things work at different times, and parents that don't take the time to learn what works are doing a great disservice to their children. Lets face it I can't just walk onto a car lot and hot wire a car and drive off with it. The world has rules and the world has consequences that we don't like. It is my job as a parent to teach my children that.

So to the point what I hate about children:

In general:
I HATE repeating myself. If I said do it, do it. If I said don't do it, don't do it. PERIOD, no discussion. By four my kids had better have this mastered or they are going to be very unhappy children.

With my kids:
I hate that I can't get away from my children, even to take a crap in peace!

With other people's kids:
I hate that I can't step in and discipline other people's kids, unless they are in my house-my house, my rules, my discipline, don't like it, don't bring your kids over!!

I have all the kids I sit on a regular basis trained to understand the saying, "I don't chew my cabbage twice." It's a colloquial and polite way of informing them I don't repeat myself. The first time they ask what it means, I explain, they understand, and I always say it when they ask me to repeat myself. From there it becomes abundantly clear that either 1) they should have been paying attention, or 2) they genuinely didn't hear me. We move on appropriately from there, but generally all the kids know I don't repeat directions or instruction often, and they had better pay attention.

Before I had my own I couldn't stand kids. Hand me a baby and I give it right back like it was some kind of toxic sludge. They were loud and obnoxious, always disturbing my nice dinner at a restaurant.

Now that I have two, I can't stand other people's kids. Don't get me wrong, my kids are not perfect, but at least they're mine to deal with. Other people's kids are annoying whiny brats. When my daughter's friends come over they're welcome until they start bickering, then it's time for them to go back home. I also hate the fact the only reason they come over is to play on our WII or swim in our pool. I go livid when I hear a knock at the door, open it up and here are some neighbor kids showing up uninvited in swim trunks assuming they can get in the pool.

Things I can't stand about children:

They grow out of their incredible cuteness.

My goodness, my sister's kids are definitely not spoiled by their grandparents. The rules are rightfully stricter at granny's house. They know they have to be doing something productive at all times, like learning to play piano or doing puzzles or playing educational computer games. They like their time with her, and really miss it now that she's unable to watch them all the time.

Something else I can't stand about kids - They have no idea how loud they are. If you inform them that they need to use inside voices, they're good for a few minutes but need to be reminded again before too long. My nephew (age 5) has finally picked up on the fact that he needs to speak quieter around me, but dangit I hated that phase.

I use to live next to these children in Maryland that had parents that were horrible and because of the parents, the children ran rampad thru neighborhood bugging everyone including me and my fiance. Constantly knocking on door at all hours of the day and night, throwng rocks over to our home, asking for water or candy or ice cream, asking if they can play in our home. When we moved to NC looking for a home, our first priority was that we find a home without children next to us..lol and good people and we finally did. The first house we looked at, we were suppose to meet the owner to look but as we were driving up the road, we heard children screaming and we just kept going..lol. Not all children are annoying but there are a few. I am sure we all were annoying at some point too..lol.

Children who are consistently loud and have a hard time truly controlling the volume of their voice need to have their hearing checked. I babysit a girl whose ears were constantly clogged with fluid; she had to have tubes put in. After five months of not being able to hear, she's had a hard time readjusting to a normal volume, but she's getting there. Sometimes it just takes time--but the constant reminders and modeling of correct volume help a lot. If they're not getting consistent modeling of appropriate volume from the adults in their lives, they'll continue to be loud. I wrestle with this issue all the time--it's one of the things I can't stand about children :D but I try and love them anyways.