okay, here is my two cents. It is very different when you are around a child ALL the time and not just babysitting a nephew. It is much more stressful and you have a lot less options when you are the full time parent-figure.
My husband goes underway on the ship and we have no family here. I stay at home all the time with my 4 year old. But we do have to go out and shop or buy groceries. He HATES going to the store and has told me that on several occasions. But what can I do? I can't grow my own food. I try to take in a dvd player when we go shopping so that he'll have something to do. That works sometimes if they have the right kind of cart, but if the cart doesn't fit, it falls to the floor and I can't use it.
If Dom starts getting really tired of it, I do try to rush through it, but sometimes it still takes a while. I try to call him down, it's not his fault all the time. You have to have EMPATHY for your kids too. Especially if they haven't napped yet and their attention span just isn't as long as an adult. I still give my son discipline and try to quiet him down, but I can't expect him to be excited about sitting in a cart when we're grocery shopping. I try to give him something to do, but it doesn't always work.
As for the dogs being compared to children. I think it's disgusting when someone says that their DOG deserves to be in a store more than a child. I believe most dogs in the US are dirtier than a child and their "leaky diaper." Most kids don't carry fleas or pose sanitation issues. Kids don't like their own butts and most don't eat their own poo. I would feel absolutely disgusted if someone where to pet a dog and then pick out fruit at the grocery store compared to holding their child and picking up fruit. As for the noise, to me barking is more annoying. In restaurants I think that you pay for what you get. If you go to McDonalds or Denny's expect to hear kids acting up. One Valentines Day I did have about 20 teenagers on their prom night ruin my eating out experience at an Italian restaurant. They were very loud and cussed a lot around my son. We just left there early and I was glad those kids weren't mine to deal with all the time. But you can always move to another table. Life isn't perfect and there will be lots of annoying things in life, just cherish what is going good for you because there is much worse out there going on. |