Bad Parent: Don’t be one.

Over the years, I’ve made many observations in public that have left me to the conclusion, you’re a bad parent. What you are going to see in this list have nothing to do with “styles” of parenting. It is the little things that bad parents refuse to do before taking their children into public. Instead of doing something to help their children, they save themselves the 5 minutes it would take to actually care.

Keep in mind, I have seen all of these things with my own ruggedly handsome eyes. A lot of these stories involve me at a Wal-Mart, don’t judge me. It is, literally, the only place to shop in a 25 mile radius. Let’s begin:

1. Basic Hygiene:

I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve seen a child at the store with dried up food in their hair. I get it, kids are messy, but that cake has been in Little Johnny’s hair for at least a week. Get that food out of your kids hair already.

2. It’s Cold, Grab a Coat:

This one has made me personally hate a co-worker. It was maybe 40° F, with a wind chill of about 28°F. As I walk into the local grocery store I see this guy walking with a toddler into the store. The dad had on a thick pullover, but the child was only wearing a t-shirt. That little girl looked miserable. I recognized this bad parent from work and I never looked at him the same. *Cough* Bad Parent *Cough*

3. Shoes?

There’s nothing nastier than the floor of a Wal-Marts. Why would you allow your little boy to roam around barefoot? I’ve seen some bad things go down on a Wal-Mart floor in my day. There is no way I would ever let my daughter walk around barefoot.

4. Watch your Child

I don’t understand how this one is so hard for some people. You have a responsibility, as a parent, to keep your eyes on your kids.

One day, my wife and I were looking at the seasonal aisle inside, you guessed it, Wal-Mart. This adorable little boy walks away from his parents to talk to my daughters, he was maybe 3 years old. Within 30 seconds the parents were gone. My wife is a momma bear, she took this little guy by the hand and went looking for the parents. Surely, they would be in a panic. It took my wife 5 minutes to find the parents and they said “I didn’t notice he ran off”. WTF, How do you lose your child for 5 minutes and not know he was gone!?

5. Use a Car Seat

Not only is it against the law, it’s idiotic to have an infant crawling around in a moving vehicle.

As I exit a RadioShack, I see a sedan full of about 6 kids and 2 adults. It was a Ford Taurus or something similar. It was not a roomy vehicle. 2 of those children were obviously under 2 years old and sitting in the laps of the other occupants. All of the children were unrestrained, not even the seat belts. On their way out of the parking lot they almost hit oncoming traffic! Needless to say, I called the cops with the license plate.

6. Don’t Drink or Smoke while Pregnant

You’re 8 months pregnant and we can all see that. We also see that you don’t care about that baby inside of you. Put down the cigarette, stop drinking, and put the baby up for adoption. Now, kill yourself.

This is where I have to say not to actually kill yourself. Get help or something.

7. Pick Your Child Up From School During a Snowstorm

No amount of layering is going to keep your child warn in 15°F weather. Even Frosty the Snowman was like “Dang, it’s cold”. Don’t make them walk 10 blocks after school. Bad Parent Alert!

No Brainer, Right?:

Somehow, I think being a bad parent is harder than being a good parent. I imagine it takes a lot of work to be that selfish. How much time are you actually saving by not dressing your child? 3 minutes?

They say that parenting is hard, but let’s be honest, it’s really not.

What do you think? Is there anything I could add to the list? What have you seen a bad parent do that made you cringe? Comment below.

Headline image provided by Eric Harrison