Responsibilities

There are all kinds of responsibilities in this world. Some are definitely more important than others. It just depends on your point of view. In my opinion parenting is a huge responsibility that often is lacking in a measure of good sense. You notice that I don't say common sense. We all know that common sense is base sense and not all that common to begin with. Browsing the news today, I came across 2 stories that pretty much typify what I'm thinking.

A 3 year-old took his toy Mustang (battery powered) onto the freeway (link pops a new window) in Wisconsin with a 2 year-old passenger. No one was hurt, thank god. But when his dad asked him, he said they just "went for a ride." A couple things pop into my mind: why is a 3 year-old playing in a moving vehicle anywhere near the street (driveway or sidewalk) without at least minimal supervision? Especially knowing that you're that close to major intersections or interchanges for freeways? And why would a parent of a 2 year-old allow play dates where such supervision is so sketchy? I'm mean come on folks. These kids at this age have no idea what it means to be mortal nor do they have any concept of danger or fear. They are simply mimicking mom and/or dad in behavior. Let's get in the car and go for a ride . . . on the freeway! Not good. Kudos to the 3 year-old driver, apparently he obeyed all the traffic laws and was operating his "vehicle" in the crosswalk and correctly according to the traffic signals. Apparently the keys and battery of this little vehicle have been removed. Kind of like locking the barn door after the horse has escaped. The part that really bothered me the most is that the dad's comment after the fact, "Nothing bad happened, so it's kind of cute now when you look at it" . . . uh right!

The second story involved the arrest of a Mom who is accused of buying her 14 year-old son guns (link also pops new window.) Teenagers are notorious for not thinking things through but simply reacting. So what on earth would make a parent think buying a firearm for any reason is a good idea? The kid is being bullied. Ok fine, what kid gets through that part of their life who hasn't been bullied? I bet I can probably even get bullies to cop to the fact that someone at sometime picked on them growing up. They had to learn the behavior somewhere. So you're a parent and your teenager son who's obsessed with the shootings that happened at Columbine High School asks you to buy a gun . . . let's think about this one for a second . . . NO FREAKING WAY!!! Not only did Mom actually buy one for him, Dad tried to as well but was prevented because he's got a previous felony. And not only does he have 1, he has 3. It happened more than once!

Does this bother anyone else? I mean, 15 minutes of browsing the news and this is what parents are doing for their kids?? My kids will likely hate me for, *gasp*, being responsible and thinking things through before acting. The best thing I can give them growing up is the ability to think and understand that actions have consequences. Apparently I might be alone in my philosophy, but come on. This is just a little too out of control.