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How not to encourage your kids.
While at the hotrod show this happened.
The scalextric (?) club had set up a model car drag racing track down one side of a pavilion. It had all the usual equipment like a xmas tree, stands with little figures , pits etc and a large selection of model drag racers, funny cars and stock street cars. The club were allowing kids to race against each other for free and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Up steps a dad with his young daughter who was aged about 5-6. Had noticed him earlier as we wandered from pavilion to pavilion ( funny how you always seem to be in the same area of the crowd with the same people at events like that).
It seemed obvious that the sole reason for attending was that dad wanted to look at the cars and had either been pressured into taking the kid as he ignored her almost totally, or he didnt have any experience at making something like this interesting to a young child.
The only spark of interest from his daughter was shown as they approached the scalextric track. They joined the queue and subsequently chose their cars and prepared to race, daughter against dad. First race the kid wasnt sure how to operate the controls and I could tell by dads attitude it was going to get ugly. He ignored her questions and got agitated as the club members took time to explain to her how to operate the controller.
1st race he wins by a huge margin. 2nd third and 4th he wins but she is getting better, not nearly good enough to win but getting off the mark quick and following him down the track. They race 2 more times and the club members and spectators are giving her encouragement but dad wins all six. His attitude was readily apparent that he was there to win and he kept making comments to her about how he was beating her. For him it was all about winning.
After the 4th 'race' she lost a bit of interest so he promised her that she could have some mini doughnuts after they finished racing.( the stall was next to the track)
They walk away from the track and the conversation from him is all about how he beat her 6 times and how useless she was. As they approach the mini doughnut stall she asks her dad if she could have some doughnuts and a drink. His reply was "No" cos she didnt win any races.
The lady at the doughnut stall who had watched the whole thing, walked out from behind the counter with a small bag of doughnuts, handed them to the kid who was now crying and said she could have them.
As they walk away the kid takes one out and starts eating it, Dad grabs the bag and stuffs his mouth with 3-4 and when the kid finishes hers and asks for another one, he stops, takes the last 2 out of the bag and hands her the empty bag telling her they are all gone. He then looks at me ( I had stopped behind him) and says "What the hell are you staring at".
" A ...head who should have been sterilised at birth" (I had to bite my tongue)
I thought he was going to make something of it but he just turned away.
Now I dont have kids so am in the category of what I term ' an unmarried marriage guidance counsellor' ( havent done it but will tell you how to do it).......but to me, this guy has no skills at being a parent and I shudder to think how his daughter will turn out if he continues like this.
Reason I posted this up is I have just finished reading BP's thread about the hog hunt and was thinking about all the dads on here who take the time to involve their kids in activities and the contrast between how you guys would probably have acted and this ....head.
The scalextric (?) club had set up a model car drag racing track down one side of a pavilion. It had all the usual equipment like a xmas tree, stands with little figures , pits etc and a large selection of model drag racers, funny cars and stock street cars. The club were allowing kids to race against each other for free and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Up steps a dad with his young daughter who was aged about 5-6. Had noticed him earlier as we wandered from pavilion to pavilion ( funny how you always seem to be in the same area of the crowd with the same people at events like that).
It seemed obvious that the sole reason for attending was that dad wanted to look at the cars and had either been pressured into taking the kid as he ignored her almost totally, or he didnt have any experience at making something like this interesting to a young child.
The only spark of interest from his daughter was shown as they approached the scalextric track. They joined the queue and subsequently chose their cars and prepared to race, daughter against dad. First race the kid wasnt sure how to operate the controls and I could tell by dads attitude it was going to get ugly. He ignored her questions and got agitated as the club members took time to explain to her how to operate the controller.
1st race he wins by a huge margin. 2nd third and 4th he wins but she is getting better, not nearly good enough to win but getting off the mark quick and following him down the track. They race 2 more times and the club members and spectators are giving her encouragement but dad wins all six. His attitude was readily apparent that he was there to win and he kept making comments to her about how he was beating her. For him it was all about winning.
After the 4th 'race' she lost a bit of interest so he promised her that she could have some mini doughnuts after they finished racing.( the stall was next to the track)
They walk away from the track and the conversation from him is all about how he beat her 6 times and how useless she was. As they approach the mini doughnut stall she asks her dad if she could have some doughnuts and a drink. His reply was "No" cos she didnt win any races.
The lady at the doughnut stall who had watched the whole thing, walked out from behind the counter with a small bag of doughnuts, handed them to the kid who was now crying and said she could have them.
As they walk away the kid takes one out and starts eating it, Dad grabs the bag and stuffs his mouth with 3-4 and when the kid finishes hers and asks for another one, he stops, takes the last 2 out of the bag and hands her the empty bag telling her they are all gone. He then looks at me ( I had stopped behind him) and says "What the hell are you staring at".
" A ...head who should have been sterilised at birth" (I had to bite my tongue)
I thought he was going to make something of it but he just turned away.
Now I dont have kids so am in the category of what I term ' an unmarried marriage guidance counsellor' ( havent done it but will tell you how to do it).......but to me, this guy has no skills at being a parent and I shudder to think how his daughter will turn out if he continues like this.
Reason I posted this up is I have just finished reading BP's thread about the hog hunt and was thinking about all the dads on here who take the time to involve their kids in activities and the contrast between how you guys would probably have acted and this ....head.
Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
Replies
I know this is a stereotypical view, but 90% of the time it is true. What I am trying to say is that figuring all this stuff out is harder for guys. Now the one that Alec ran into was more along the lines of a ..... who should have not reproduced. But the rest of us are trying to be better....
Girls are different than boys. They are not interested in the same things. My girls liked to shoot, but they had tons of other things they liked to do more. So you let them.
And letting a little kid beat you is not going to destroy your man card and would help her ego tremendously. May have instilled a liking into something they could both do.
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
Winston Churchill
"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, and speed is the economy of motion" - Scott Jedlinski
or not....you may just die old and alone..."Inevitably, what goes around, comes around"
I was hoping he would respond to my reply............
.
The trouble was I didnt feel it was appropriate to take it any further as it could have been construed that I was picking a fight. ( which I was).With such a big crowd around , sure as eggs , there would have been someone who only got half the story which would have caused problems.
If it had turned into a melee, normally the first thing that happens over here is that for those who are involved in any form of violence their FAL is suspended and their firearms are seized temporarily.
Case in point. A friend ( male) who was married to a rather large woman was subjected to domestic violence about 3 1/2 years ago. It got to the point where he told her he was leaving. She beat him up ( he was 1/3 her size). The police were called ( by their daughter who witnessed the whole thing.) The police arrived and arrested her and took a statement from him and his 21 yr old daughter. During the beating his wife slipped over and cut her lip when she hit the deck. He ended up with concussion, broken ribs and a broken wrist. Despite the daughters statement the police took a counter claim of assault from the wife, then confiscated his firearms and suspended his licence.
12 mths later he appears in court and after hearing the evidence, the charge against him is dismissed. Her assault case comes up 2 mths later and she is convicted of assault.
He is still fighting to get his FAL back.
The reason I know all this is I made arrangements when it happened to take custody of his firearms ( they have a habit of mysteriously being scheduled for destruction sometimes) and after signing a release that I wouldnt let him have access to them I have them stored in my safe. ( a .22, 12g, an air rifle, and an old 303) The guy is a farmer and everytime he needs something put down he rings me to do the deed.