Michael S. Pascua The Life of a Freelancer

Monkey Bags

It seems like in the past few years I've seen more and more parents placing their children on some sort of safety harness. I continue to look and laugh at the idea of parents putting Monkey Bags on their children. Don't get me wrong, I think putting wild children on leashes sounds like a good idea on paper, but really isn't that just turning your child into a pet? The best moment I love seeing is when the child tries their best to move too far ahead and gets forced backwards. They tug as far as they can and the parent has to play this tug-of-war with their own child.

When I was a child, I didn't get leashes. I actually got a concerned parent's hand. I get that there was less technology (and less people) back in the day [gosh I sound like I'm fifty], but that shouldn't make a difference. If a kid wanted to get close, they drag the parent or the parent took the effort to put the kid on their shoulders.

I find putting leashes on children to be a very lazy way of parenting. If you don't think that your child is ready to go out into the world, maybe you should practice in smaller areas. Let's start with the local park. Maybe go to a mall that had more people. Work your way up to local amusement parks. Then go to Disney World. It's just like bringing in new sneakers to Disney and realizing that your feet hurt after two hours of standing in the heat. What happened to sitting down and talking to your child? Telling them that the kids have to be on their best behavior because there are a lot of people at Disney. Hell, even threatening them that Mickey doesn't like naughty children (I'm pretty sure he doesn't).

About Michael

Michael is normally known as "Paz" but not usually as Mike. He likes reality television, all forms of music, and long walks (but not necessarily on the beach).