I don’t expect your child to behave perfectly, I expect you to parent them

No, I don’t expect children to never misbehave. I expect parents to actually discipline them.

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Today I went to a restaurant with my grandmother, and the 3 or 4 year old at the table next to us kept letting out this insanely loud, high-pitched scream. The kind of noise that makes everyone flinch. The entire restaurant could hear it.

At first I tried to ignore it. Kids make noise. Fine. But it just kept going. And going. And going.

Eventually I complained to the father, who responded with, “He’s a child, they do that.”

I was honestly so shocked by the entitlement that I needed a second to respond before saying, “Then you should tell him to stop. You’re not at home.”

Yes, it’s normal for kids to do annoying things because they don’t know better. That’s exactly why it’s your job as a parent to teach them better.

If your response to complaints is “they’re children, they do that,” then you’re the problem. I don’t blame the kid for not understanding restaurant etiquette. I blame you for sitting there and doing nothing.

Children don’t magically learn boundaries on their own. If you don’t teach them now, they grow up thinking screaming, disruption, and being told no are personal attacks.

Discipline isn’t abuse. It’s basic parenting. And pretending otherwise just creates entitled adults later.

Parent your kids. That’s the bare minimum.

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