Saw the saddest thing today . . .

[dantesmama]

This morning Ds and I were taking a walk, and there was a family walking on the other side of the street. I thought to myself, "Well, that's nice, you don't usually see both parents taking a walk with their children." Just then, their daughter tripped on the sidewalk. She landed face-first on the cement, HARD. Keep in mind, this little girl was [I]maybe[I] five years old. She started screaming and crying - that fall looked really painful. So what do the parents do? The mother was pushing a stroller and slowed down a little, glancing back as the father dragged the little girl off the ground and started berating her for not watching where she was going. He was actually yelling at her, telling her "that's what you get for not paying attention", etc, while the litltle girl is crying the whole time. I never heard an "Are you okay?" or anything like that, just this little girl crying in pain while her father yelled at her and her mother ignored her. It just made me really sad. Why does it seem like some parents just don't care about their kids?

[NaomiLorelie]

[ExuberantDaffodil]

: poor little girl

poor you for having to witness that.

[sweetest]

How hard is it to give a little hug?

[starlein26]

I wonder about parents like that. It really seems that they have no heart hunh? I have no explanation other than that they are mindlessly modeling their own parents...it's too bad. Poor little girl.

[Tonia80]

It is ridiculous things like the "Look where you are going" crap that just bother me. The child does not need a lecture..she needs comfort!

[CalebsMama05]

poor baby

[Zach'smom]

We all fall sometimes. I've never had anyone yell at me because I tripped and fell. Give the poor kid a hug and a band-aid!

[riversong]

What you described is exactly how my dad treated us growing up. I probably would've gotten a spanking for being careless enough to fall. I hated him for many years for treating us that way.

[REDBREAST]

I could not imagine if my precious dd fell like that and just yelling at her, instead of comforting her. Why and how parents can be so insensitive and out of touch with their children's needs!!! I am so sad to hear that.

[JamesMama]

Omgosh!

I always comfort James...but I do admit sometimes if he's being a monkey and climbing the same thing 5 seconds after I pull him off when he falls I'll comfort/nurse/hug him and then say "See thats why mama doesn't want you to climb on that! You get hurt."

[SunShineSally]

That poor little girl

I do the samething as JamesMama I have a monkey also! Today he fell off of a chair in the kitchen after I told him to sit down maybe no lie 8 times but I did not yell at him I held him and nursed him then asked him how he got the booboo and said that is why mommy said no stand he nodded and said sit down then said Joe got bonk on head: It is sad though how some people can kick a poor child while they are already down don't they see they are mapping out the rest of these childrens lives!

karen and Baby joe

[Breeder]

I understand that you can have a horrible day, your nerves are rubbed raw and any upset in the flow of your day can piss you off.

HOWEVER, no matter how irked I am, when my child falls, especially hard like that my first thought is "Oh my god is he hurt?!"

That's the kind of thing I see and think, "That little girl can not feel wanted."

[talk de jour]

I wish "parents" like that would think about how they'd treat an adult who tripped and fell and scraped the heck out of their face. You know they'd be all over them with "OMG are you okay?! Is there anything I can do?!"

Then they turn around and hit and berate their own children for the same thing. :

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by talk de jour

I wish "parents" like that would think about how they'd treat an adult who tripped and fell and scraped the heck out of their face. You know they'd be all over them with "OMG are you okay?! Is there anything I can do?!"

Then they turn around and hit and berate their own children for the same thing. :

That's exactly what I was going to say!

[EnviroBecca]

A while back I read an article in Parents magazine in which parents were talking about how their children's behavior affirmed their parenting choices. One mom said that her preschooler was playing with a friend when the friend tripped and fell, and her daughter pulled the friend back to her feet and said, "You need to be more careful!" The proud mom says, "...just like I do with her!" Great.

My parents generally reacted to falls and other accidents in a sort of calm, descriptive way rather than a worried way ("Oh, you fell and scraped your knee." not "Oh no!! Are you hurt?!") but with a warm and caring attitude that made it clear a hug was available if needed. "I told you so" was reserved for those times when they really had warned me multiple times recently, and even then it wasn't said until the initial shock of the injury was past and not in those words--more like, "Gosh, I wish you'd listened to my warnings instead of trying it for yourself. I'm sad that you got hurt." I got hurt pretty often as a kid (clumsy, poor balance, and a hip deformity such that I didn't learn to walk or bike really steadily until I was a teenager) and I shudder to think how horrible it would've been if my parents had reacted like this little girl's did.

[QT_Mommy]

That is really sad.

[june'smom]

Originally Posted by riversong

What you described is exactly how my dad treated us growing up. I probably would've gotten a spanking for being careless enough to fall. I hated him for many years for treating us that way.

My dh's parents were like this. They blamed him for everything. He has had an ingrown toenail for almost 10 yrs. He told me that he didn't tell his mom when he got it because she would have yelled at him for not clipping his toenails correctly. He carries these fears around even after being out of the house for years. It is sooo sad.

Louise