Raising children is a 24-hour job and a tough one since children often misbehave. But what happens when a parent runs out of patience? They could reinforce bad behavior, take babysitting shortcuts, lose their temper, or even just give their child anything they want. When a parent does this, they fail to prepare their children for the future, and may even set their children back for life. This
Of course, those are the serious results of bad parenting. Some encounters are much funnier, especially witnessed from a distance. Whether the incident is sad, dangerous, or funny, bad parents provide some entertainment value. And, hopefully, someone will provide therapy to their children.
So what are the worst parenting mistakes witnessed in public? Here are some sad stories from people who witnessed bad parenting at its greatest (or worst) and the events that followed. Fair warning, some of this is sad to read.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#25 The Bathroom Couldn't Possibly Be That Far Away
I was at an airport a couple years ago waiting on a delayed flight when a woman with a toddler and a five year old girl sits next to me. The girl almost immediately asks to go to the bathroom and the mother tells her she could have gone when they were at home. Every few minutes she asks to go to the bathroom and her mom just ignores her and focuses on her phone. After a while the girl wets herself leaving a puddle on the floor and soaking her pants. The mother immediately berates the girl calling her disgusting and other names to the point the girl is now crying. About this time the plane had landed but wasn't boarding yet. The mother expected one of the gate agents to clean the mess, and told the girl she'd have to spend the flight in her wet clothes. The gate agent wasn't having any of that and called security. Not sure what ended up happening but they didn't get on the plane.
#24 This Mother Expects A Lot From Her Three-Year-Old
Working in a supermarket I saw a woman with her three year old who was toddling around. The mom said to the child "go get some salt," and the daughter eagerly toddled over to grab some. She brought back a bag of salt and the mom loudly screamed "NOT THAT ONE YOU ****" in front of a whole load of people in the aisle and store. My mouth just dropped open. It was so surreal. I informed the security guys but I don't know if anything came of it.
The barrier to entry for parenthood is so, so low.
#23 Some Parents Think Their Children Can Do No Wrong
At a summer camp I worked at, a kid was throwing rocks at other kids. His mother came and threatened to report us after we suspended him.
#22 This Mother Has An Interesting Way Of Showing Gratitude
My previous downstairs neighbor was a large family, and the youngest kid was six or seven, and 24/7 would be running around stomping his feet, and screaming at the top of his lungs. The parents never did anything. What really set it off is when, at about 2am, he turned on the gas on the stove and then went to bed. I woke up, smelled the gas, and had called the fire department. After everything is all over with, about 5:30 am, the mother comes to me yelling at me about calling the fire department.
I have seen a lot of bad parents, but that takes the cake in my opinion.
#21 These Children Would Get Along Well With The Boy From Slide #23
All those "it's not my child's fault" types of parents.
Seriously, I've seen so many children educated this way turn out horribly wrong because they were never prepared to face the consequences of their actions, and always projected the blame on others. Failed class? Not my fault, teacher doesn't like me. Spent all their money (of course courtesy of mommy and daddy) before the end of the month in college? Everything is so expensive around here. Car accident? The other guy should have seen me coming even though I was in the wrong.
#20 This Stranger Helps A Child When Their Own Mother Won't
I lived in a condo and came home from work to see a small child no older than seven crying outside the entrance door. It was negative one out so it was extremely cold. I let her inside and we walked to her condo, knocked on her door, but no answer. I sat on the stairs with her and called the police. The cops came and I went down to my condo. After 15 minutes the police knocked on my door and told me what happened. The mom was home the entire time. She deliberately wouldn't buzz her kid in as punishment for forgetting the key code and waking her up with the buzzer. It was negative one outside.
#19 Why Won't This Mom Feed Her Child?
A girl I knew in high school thought it was a privilege for her child to eat and wouldn’t feed him unless his chores were done. He’s three.
#18 Because No Child Ever Fell Down At The Park, Ever
When my friend and her brother were kids, they were at the park playing on a play structure. Her brother fell off the play structure and hurt himself and was crying. All the other kid's parents were asking if he is okay while his mom comes up to him and starts yelling at him that he is stupid for falling off and why would he do that.
#17 This Is What Happens When Parents Refuse To Say "No"
My cousin was never told the word "no" growing up. If she didn't want to do something, she wasn't made to do it. It started when she was two years old and didn't want soap with her bath. As a child they would let her interrupt any conversation they were having instead of telling her to wait. Things like this went on for nearly 20 years. The end result is a person who is now in her mid-twenties and doesn't use soap to bathe. She smells and we've talked to her about it. She's difficult to have a conversation or really any sort of interaction with her because she doesn't fully understand the concept of no. This also results in her being unable to hold a job even though she has a masters degree. She just gets in arguments with her bosses and is then let go for unprofessional behavior.
#16 This Man Was Turned Into A Free Babysitter
I used to work at Chuck E. Cheese, and boy I saw a lot of bad parenting. A lot of people would use Chuck E. Cheese as a free babysitting service (since it was technically free to get in), and they would actually take naps at the tables and not buy tokens for their kids. This would happen all the time, and since I worked the floor and fixed the games, I would often just give these kids some tokens so they could at least play a couple of games. Bad stuff went down at Chuck E. Cheese. One time a dad started a fight with another dad because he thought that he stole his daughter's tickets.
#15 Girl Gets A Free iPod With This One Simple Trick
My friend wanted an iPod when they first came out. He saved his money for nearly a year to buy his own. When his parents took him to buy it, his little sister started throwing a tantrum because she wanted one too. His parents bought her one just to shut her up.
#14 The Saddest Part Is That He's Probably Used To This
Was at the Smithsonian American History Museum a couple of years back, and there was a little boy between the ages of four and six who kept pointing excitedly and going “Ooh! What’s this?!” and “Look at this, Mama!” It was cute, a little kid excited about the history there. After a few minutes, his red-faced, morbidly obese mother screams “WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP?!” The little kid didn’t even cry. He just hung his head and looked like his light had been snuffed out.
#13 What Makes People Think This Is Okay Anywhere?
At a coffee shop, I saw a kid tell his mother that he needed to go to the bathroom. Mom tells the kid to go in a flower pot inside of the shop... and he promptly did while she carried on eating her breakfast as if nothing was wrong. Worst part is not only am I sure that she knows where the bathrooms are, but she had just come with her kid from their home in the building where the coffee shop is!
#12 Bonnie And Clyde Jr.
When I was seven-ish years old, I was playing soccer alone at the park when this new kid in the neighborhood came with his mother and ask me to play. Of course I said yes because you know, kicking the ball alone can sometimes be boring. He said he would like to try to do some longer passes, to really kick harder. That is where it got dirty. The little guy, seeing that I was running the other side of the field, took my ball and started running away with it. He wasn’t that fast so I did catch him, but that is when his mother stretched her foot out and made me fall right on my face. She then took the ball from her son's hands, looked at me, and told me, with the most disgusting smile I saw in my life, "You are gonna need a new ball, little kid." She drove away with her son and I never saw them again.
#11 If She Cared For Her Child The First Time Around, CPS Wouldn't Be A Problem
My sister's one-month-old baby was crying and bloated with a stomach problem, so she put a heating pad in her crib and laid her down on it with the heat setting on high. She laid down for three hours watching Netflix while her baby screamed, not once picking her up. When I got home and heard her crying, I went in to ask what was wrong and she complained she was being fussy because of her stomach. I picked her up and her entire back, neck and back of her legs were blistering. I freaked out, went to call my mom and take her car to the ER. My sister told me not to because she was scared CPS would take her.
#10 This Mother Endangers More Than Her Own Child
I got in a friends car in middle school and was told not to fasten my seatbelt because the mom knew someone who died in a car accident that had been trapped by their seatbelt. Even 11 year-old me was like "Yeah, but the odds are...."
#9 This Level Of Neglect Will Astound You
I had a student that grew up in a foster care home with 62 dogs. I was told after CPS intervened she would bark and crawl like a dog (this was a middle school aged child mind you). When I met her she spoke English for the most part but was extremely quiet. When she was upset she would bark at other students occasionally.
#8 The USDA Recognizes Five Food Groups And "Sugar" Is Not One
I've seen a mother give her young child literally nothing but Poptarts, Oreos, and Little Debbie Snacks (I'm not exaggerating) because "he just won't eat anything else!" Okay, but who's the genius who introduced Twinkies and Ding Dongs to him in the first place, ma'am? Kid's teeth were rotted and he was very small for his age with no muscle tone whatsoever.
#7 I Tried This Once, And I Got A Lifetime Ban From The Roseville Dairy Queen
My husband and I took my sister in law and our 11 year old nephew to Warwick castle a few years ago.
We were walking around and saw this family. The child was about 13/14 and was overweight and obviously wasn't used to hearing the word "no."
He wanted an ice cream and his parents said no because they had just had candy floss. The kid started shouting and whining, parents still said no. This teenage child then proceeded to stare down his parents, slowly get on the floor and then scream and cry and thrash around having a full on toddler tantrum right in the middle of the castle.
The second his parents gave in he stopped screaming and crying, got up and calmly walked to the ice cream place.
My nephew turned to us and said "what a baby" and went to go look at the trebuchet.
#6 She Tied Her Son Up Where?
When working in a box store about ten years ago, a customer reported to me that they found a kid tied to a clothing rack. The mother had used her child leash to tie up her kid in an isolated corner while she shopped. We untied the kid, took him to my manager, and promptly called the cops.
#5 This Man May Have Just Saved His Daughter's Life
I went to go drop my three year old off with her mom. Her mom was in a hurry so she asked me to put our daughter directly into her car seat in her car. When I did, I noticed that the car seat was just resting on the seat. Literally not buckled in at all.
I calmly tell her that the seat isn't hooked up. She says it's too hard for her to buckle up. Okay, no problem. They can be a pain to tighten properly. So I buckle it up like it is supposed to be. After a few minutes, I have it nice and tight but it is ever so slightly crooked because her seat is old and worn.
This whole time she is getting frustrated because it is taking too long. When I finish she sees that it is slightly crooked and gets angry because "people will think she's a bad mom" and proceeds to push me out of the way and unbuckle it. Then she loads our daughter into it and speeds away with the car seat literally just resting on the seat.
I guess to some people appearances matter more than safety. I followed her and called the police. Then she tried to tell the police I was stalking her. They saw right through her lie.
#4 (Grand)mother Knows Best!
This woman who I assumed was the little girl's grandma kept dunking her granddaughter underwater at a hotel pool despite the girl's constant screaming and crying, totally oblivious to the fact that it was disturbing the entire hotel.
#3 Check Please
My wife’s friend has two kids and a timid husband. We went to the diner where the kids were allowed to climb on furniture, run around, and eat as much as they wanted. The boy proceeded to vomit all over the floor a few tables away and ruined some other couples’ meal. The parents ignored all of this. They made no effort to correct the kid or even clean up the mess. So much rage. I held it in and calmly informed my wife later that I would not subject myself to their company again. The next time they came to visit my wife, I made sure I was working.
Haven't seen them since.
#2 As Expensive As The Potential Injuries Of Falling Down Stairs?
Saw a little girl fall down the stairs at a ski resort. She was clearly having trouble carrying her skis and poles. Father proceeds to scream at her, “What are you doing?! Those are expensive.” Then he just stood there impatiently huffing as she picked herself up, awkwardly trying to carry her skis and poles and running after him looking ashamed.
#1 The Word "Disposable" Is Not A Suggestion
I used to do a lot of work in REALLY dirty apartment complexes. I once went into a four bedroom two bath unit. I counted 12 mattresses, none of which ever had sheets on them. They had springs poking out and were all stained with years of use. The woman who lived there picked a sobbing infant off the ground, removed its soiled diaper, discarded the diaper on the floor, hhalf-heartedlywiped it with a rag from the floor, and then re-diapered the child with a dried, used diaper she picked up from the floor. There were several other children there. There were no toys, books, or even a television. Just kids, trash, dirty laundry, and a lot of stink.
