Canadutch
This is one of the kids in my neighbourhood. Isn’t he a peach?! Whoever coined the term Poster child for birth control absolutely must have known this kid’s parents.As many of you know we live across a parking lot from a facility for the mentally handicapped. Outside this place they have a playground with big wooden swings, little pools, and that heavy plastic playhouse and slide, etc. During the evenings sometimes the kids in the neighbourhood will play in the playground on the big wooden parts.
Tonight when Xander and I were going out for our bike ride we heard weird noises coming from the other side of the bushes, which was on the grounds for this facility. It was a lot of banging and young boys talking. When they saw Xander looking over they ran to the other end of the grounds back to the wooden playground. When we looked in we saw that they had demolished the playhouse and slide and that’s what we were hearing, them kicking the shit out of it. So we followed them up to the other little playground and Xander was talking to them. I can say with absolute certainty that I have never encountered more cocky little bastards in my life. I had my camera with me to take pictures on our bike ride, came in handy for capturing one of the little bastards in action (this is where the above photo came from).
Xander was doing the grown up “We’ll call the police or tell your parents” thing, but the kids didn’t seem to care. We didn’t know where they lived and they wouldn’t tell us. Then, as luck would have it, we recognized one of them. It was the son of our upstairs neighbour who comes to visit sometimes. We buzzed him down and he wasn’t too impressed… that scared the bejesus out of one of the other smaller kids so he lead us straight to the door of the two older kids (the one in the pic and his brother). Strangely enough, he didn’t have quite so much to stay when his mother was standingthere. Then again, when Xander was out with the dog a short while ago the kid was out playing basketball and looking smug. That’s Dutch parents for ya, they have this “Let the child grow into their own” mentality. Like acting out is just the kid “Finding themselves” or some such garbage. Is it any wonder these kids act so destructive and rude when their parents don’t punish them?
It really makes me wonder what kind of parent I will be. Actually I know what kind of parent I will be, the same as my parents. Loving but not taking any shit, the way it should be! How will other Dutch parents view my way of parenting? How will a society of excessively lenient parents feel about my lack of tolerance for misbehaving children? I mean I’m not saying I will beat my children or be cruel to them, but I’d make sure they knew I am not someone to cross. I grew up afraid of what would happen to me if I misbehaved, and it certainly didn’t kill me. I mean I never got in really serious trouble as a kid because I didn’t dare find out what WOULD happen if I did. Will other Dutch mothers think I’m cruel? Will they think I’m stunting my children’s mental and emotional growth by not letting them act out?
All I know is if this were my kid, and he behaved in the way this little shit did and was brought home by neighbours, he’d be shitting his pants on the way just thinking about facing me.
Grrrrrrr… I can’t stand this kid. I hope he falls off his bike.
