Watch your kids!

I know a person who has three kids under 5. I can't imagine how much work that must be for her, since her partner works nights, and is a bit of a lazy father at the best of times.

I used to take my child round there to socialise, but her oldest son, about 5 months older than mine, started being a bit of a bully. Hitting them in the face with things, trying to push them over and launch himself at them, trying to perform wrestling moves on them. They've been raised by the TV, more specifically WWE, and so they're rough. My little one is quite gentle, and so we stopped going round there, because they was easy pickings.
Not only this, but whenever she would have company, she would rely on them to keep an eye on her children, to stop them getting into scrapes etc, it's no-ones job but hers.

Last night, the oldest, the bully, got hold of a pair of scissors, and cut the youngest one's face and lips. They had to take them to hospital to get stitches.

These kids are ALWAYS in hospital for something or other. Suspected broken bones, mystery illnesses, being drunk (I'm not even joking).

I get it, you can't watch kids 100% of the time, and accidents DO happen, but seriously, with 3 children in the house, why are scissors within reach? What if he had gone for the youngest child, not even a year old and taken their eye out? What were BOTH of the parents doing that neither of them were watching the kids?

It's made me so angry with the pair of them, I'm not even sure what to say or do.

And this is what I went through with a 16 year old.

Not so easy now is it?

Hope things get better for her children but those kids need mental help from the sounds of it.

Nothing a little rat sack in the milk bottle w.. wait, is this publ.. OH MY!!

Umm, I feel for you.. But never had kids like that around me, I'd seriously go mental on those parents.

Oo

I have a friend that i new from school and she now has 5 children, All around 2 years in between them, She is A great mum and has alot of patience with them but unfortunately when you have 3 or more children i imagine it is very hard to watch them all, All of the time, And accidents sure do happen.

When she goes to the toilet she has to take 3 of them with her!

One of the things she struggles with more than anything is keeping the house tidy as she is too busy running around after the children all the time.

She was struggling and admitted that she was struggling and phoned the social services for home-help, The home-help comes for an hour 3 times a week and help's with the housework as this is what she needed help with the most, And she is so much more relaxed now

5 children i think personally is far to many to be able to take care of, I know i would struggle! She has now convinced her husband to have the snip, Thank god!

I always wonder why people have too many children if they were not planning to spend enough time to educate and teach them.

It is no secret that parenting is not for everyone.

reply to post by SuperFrog


I agree, I can not imagine having more than 3 kids, I have 2 and there is 6 years in between them which makes it easy to be able to see to their need's, We are thinking about having 1 more soon as my daughter is 6 now but I will not have any more than 3, I can't imagine having more than 3!

Having so many children in a close age gap in my eyes is just foolish really, There is no way the children will get all the love, Care and attention they need when their are so many!

I don't particularly want any more, I have one, and that's enough for me. I can understand why some people do have large families, but I think you need to know what you're dealing with before you just start squeezing them out all over the place.

Perhaps I'm too "mother hen", I don't get how people can just strap their kids into a chair and leave them in front of a tv, or wander off and do their own thing and not be in direct line of sight of their children... I just don't get it. I'm sitting in my living room right now with my little boy playing with his Hot Wheels cars right in front of me, we're engaging in conversation so I'm not sitting here ignoring him (I'm working from home, thankfully it's not demanding on my concentration).

It's not my place to judge how others live, but it's such a shocking thing to do, and to not even be around when it happened!

reply to post by Lulzaroonie


I don't think i would even dare take a shower with that many kids ..... My Daughter is 6 and i get her to sit in her room with her coloring pens and paper while i take a shower so she is not downstairs alone, It terrifies me to think someone may knock on the door and her to answer while i am not there.... Imaging doing little things like that with so many children.... Nightmare!

reply to post by ladylove



That is exactly how we (my wife and I) feel about our family.

IMHO, kids are big responsibility and if you like to help them succeed in life, you have to give them a good start.

reply to post by Lulzaroonie


I completely agree with your decision not to bring your child around these out of control kids anymore. There are people who I have cut out of my "visiting" circle for just such reasons. In the past I have also told certain people in the most polite fashion I could muster up that they were welcome to come back to my home for a visit provided that they come at a time when they weren't accompanied by their children. It caused some hard feelings in some cases but it just had to be that way.

I had two children that were two years apart and we went to visit friends regularly when they were young. I always stayed on top of where they were and what they were doing because that was my job as their parent. I'm the same way with my grandchild. She is two and I have her the majority of the time. Whether we are at my home or at someone else's home I stay on top of where she is and what she's doing. I cannot understand people who do not.

It only takes a matter of seconds for a little one to get into something that can hurt them. I understand that it may be hard to keep track of several small children all at once but it can and must be done.Parents who are so non-challant about supervising their children disturb me, and I do my best to stay away from them. It's always an accident just waiting to happen, and when something DOES happen the parents never seem to understand why. It frustrates me to no end!

holy cow! cut the kids face with scissors and needed stitches!!!!!
call child services!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reply to post by reficul


I would, But to ask them question's about how the system works where they are first, And if they offer home help etc, Then have a word with the person and ask them if they feel they can cope, And if not to call the service's themselves for help, They will probably get home-help with some parenting classes...

That's if they are willing to admit they can not cope, If they don't then call the service and ask them to do a inspection/investigation...

reply to post by ladylove


She's adamant she can cope, but I don't see how she can with such things happening in her home without her even knowing about it until it's too late.
I've already contact childrens services in the past, and they're very interested in sorting things out with them but then they moved and I couldn't give them the new address but I know where they are now

reply to post by Lulzaroonie


I am sure if these hospital visit's keep up they will report the family in the end, Then there will be a full blown investigation done, I am surprised it has not been done already considering the Scissors and the alcohol

Well, Im going to be a jerk here.. but what do these young women expect when they start popping them out like pez at young ages? CHAOS is what they will get. I waited till I had my degree and my kids were purposely spaced out.. 18-13 and the one we didnt plan late life surprise baby.. 6 yrs. Kids change your life and require a bit of common sense. I hadnt had a shower in years unless I took one when the husband was home. I took a bath with the kids playing with toys in the floor by the tub.LOL!

The kids with scissors and etc.. huge parent fail. I wouldnt let them around my kids either. Most kids dont need a parent to tell them cutting someones face up with scissors is NOT a good thing, so maybe more is going on there. Yikes...

Originally posted by reficul
holy cow! cut the kids face with scissors and needed stitches!!!!!

call child services!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All their going to do is keep the child for a couple of days and send them back home. They always did that here. After my niece attacked a child with downs syndrome, then they finally put her in a residential program, along with giving her a neurological work up. She hurt the kid pretty bad because he sat in her imaginary friends seat and the parents wanted her in jail. But, the court already found her to be incompetent and won't place her back in jail.

If the residential place doesn't work out and her mom is crazy enough to take her back in, that child is going to hurt someone again and maybe her mother the next time something doesn't go her way.

Her mom wants her back, and I understand that, but that child scares the crap out of me. Never been so scared of a kid in my life.

She's sweet when she gets whatever she wants, but the minute after getting what she wants, she turns into a demon child.

I've heard it said and in some ways it's probably true for many that with your first child you are over protective, with your second you stress less and with your third laid back. That didn't apply to me though, I'm still super paranoid mummy.
My three year old was tucked up in bed last Thursday and I suddenly got the super heebee jeebies that he might be mucking around at the windows. The child locks are on so they can only be opened a crack, but since he's an evil genius I suddenly wasn't too sure he couldn't work it. Dashed upstairs like a woman possessed to find him fast asleep. Yeah silly me. I picks up the local paper this Monday to find a four year old fell out of his bedroom window, smashed his little legs to smithereens. Where? Literally down the road from me in the same village. Freaked out beyond belief.

I know my parenting skills were passed down from my mother. She'd envision me breaking my neck, or poking my eyes out during the most benign of events.

reply to post by Advantage


That's not being a Jerk its honest and true!

My friend with 5 kids is a great mum and handles them all very well, But she struggles every day, And has admitted to me that she wished she waited instead of popping them out like pea's

Luckily my daughter's room is directly opposite the bathroom so i keep popping me head around the shower curtain to check on her

I remember when my husband left his razor on the sink after shaving one day, And my daughter went to the toilet, Luckily i needed one as well so went up when she shouted that she had finished, She was holding the handle bit of it, I freaked out at my hubby! He never did it again, Could have been a lot worse!

reply to post by Advantage


Oh I'm all for big age gaps.

reply to post by Suspiria


Your Clothes


1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

The Baby's Name

1st baby: You pour over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites.
2nd baby: Someone has to name his or her kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.
3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points.

Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Sleeping

1st baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first six - eight weeks
2nd baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first two weeks
3rd baby: Goes right from the hospital nursery into their own room

Baby Book

1st baby: You religiously make entries every day, carefully noting the number of spit-ups and bowel movements for the first year
2nd baby: You enter a few facts each week but stop after 6 months
3rd baby: You buy the book but enter the child's name, birth weight, and length on the first page

Diapering

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing a coin

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: When 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!