Seriously...BE A PARENT!

I am re-blogging this from Glamour's website, specifically Chrissy's "Storked" blog because this is the kind of stuff that REALLY gets on my nerves, especially as a parent to be.

Here's the story:

Taylor Pugh, four, has been participating in an in-school suspension for the past month because his hair is too long. (Watch this video) Taylor's father, Delton Pugh, says he won't "hold his son down" and make him cut it because Taylor likes it long. But the cute boy also likes his friends: "I miss my friends," he told the AP.

Here's the thing, though: The school's dress code is black-and-white. Boys' hair must be above the ear lobes and collar. Laura Jobe, from PUBLIC school, Floyd Elementary in the Mesquite School District, maintains that the hair code is designed to minimize distractions in the classroom.

I'm just wondering if you caught the third line of the first paragraph. Taylor likes it long. Well guess what. Taylor is 4. You don't always get what you want, especially when you're 4. It BOGGLES my mind that these parents, who probably pay REALLY good money to send their child to this school would ever allow their 4 year old to decide ultimately on not only his hairstyle, but eventually his suspenstion. CUT the freaking kids hair. He's 4. He'll get over it. Sure, there might be tears, but guess what, growing up isn't easy and no one says it will be.

What annoys me about todays parents, is that they have their kids on a level playing field with them. I am all for letting the kid weigh in on little things, maybe what movie to see for a matinee, or having some sort of say over what they eat, but come on, I do NOT plan on having my child decide FOR me what is best for them. I will be the parent right? So shouldn't I act like one?

Maybe it's because I was raised in the 80's, but let me tell you, I had NO say on what I ate, where I went to school, how I wore my hair, anything. I went to private school from Kindergarten to 12th grade. There was a dress code. I followed it EVERYDAY for 13 years. I didn't get the choice from my school OR my parents. When I broke dresscode, I first got in trouble from school, and then AGAIN from my parents. My parents were NOT the ones to go fight the school on my behalf, no way no how. I had made my proverbial bed, and my parents were going to make sure I was going to lie in it. And guess what...I hardly ever broke (those) rules. Other rules sure, but in school, no way. The consequences were too high. I knew VERY early on what a priviledged life I lived, and how lucky I was to go to that school. If I screwed it up, I would have no one to blame but myself.

I don't believe in the whole 'let your kids express themselves' BS that so many parents tout today. So, put your kid in an art class. You pierce your nose, your belly button or anything else funny, I have a pair of needlenosed pliers and I know how to use them. You have the rest of your life to express yourself however you want. If you're under MY roof and I'm paying for you to go to a private school with rules, you better be certain you'll be following each and every one of them.

If you want your kids to do whatever they want, whenever they want, move to a commune and raise them there. Home school them for all I care- they are your kid's after all. But if you are going to send your kids to my kids school, I expect you to be a parent and your kid to be a kid. My kid will NOT decide if they have a haircut. If I think you need a haircut, guess what, you do. If I think you're acting like a turd, you're going to be put in time out or somewhere else similar. I am not going to negotiate with you like I'm an effing terrorist negotiator. What I say GOES. What your father says GOES. You can reason with me all you want, you can break my rules and scoff at me behind my back, but until you're 18 and out of my house, I AM THE PARENT.

I just wish more people agreed with me. Don't even get me started on the people who don't have a bedtime for their kids, insisting that it makes them more creative. No, what makes them creative is a good night's sleep and positive academic action during the day. But, that's not todays post.

Sorry for the rant, this one just got me all sorts of fired up today. Hope you have a great afternoon!

xoxo Mrs. Pit