RANT FOR THE DAY: Why the HECK do people put CHILDREN on Leashes??

good rant!

interesting question!

From your perspective you see a cruel answer...

I always did too when I was younger and had no children....

six children later I have become the freak out in public while my children run amok thru society..... and I barely catch the back of their collars when they dodge into the parking lot and a car is heading right at one <or lord forbid more>

I am the freak that you stare at and mutter "can't she control those children"

as those children run up to you who are scowling at their ketchup faces <having just run out of mcdonalds or other such fast food place in a mall near you> and try to touch your hair... smiling.. giggling and loving their game of "put the ketchup on the stranger" which I guess from my point of view is better than their game of "put the spider on the stranger" <they aim for the chest...lol>

now.. other than annoying you and yours; and yes we can see the annoyance.. the disdain because of lack of "control" some mothers have opted to appease You <instead of having a heart attack while running after a child or more> and they have "leashed" their children

I have not opting to annoy you to the fullest to have you look down your noses at me while my chaotic world infringes on yours..... while you mutter something about me not bringing such heathens out in public... and then watching you gasp in shock and disgust as I chase those children down and pluck them one by one with all the strategy of dealing with the same chase for sixteen years....

and hear the mutterings of "she should put them on leashes then they would be safer for them..."

okay... now I have finished my rant for the day... for those who did not "get" it?

I wish I had the nerve it takes to face all of the ones looking down their noses at the "mean" mom who did not care what you thought or felt and put harnesses on their children it was done for safety, with love and because those mom's knew that the car holding people would kill her baby if the two year old <who is NOT able to understand>ran out as a joke.. and the guilt the person driving would carry, the mom who would have lost her baby and feel more guilt than your disdain means.... and all the onlookers muttering at that point <<EVEN YOU>> "why didn't she just put the baby on one of those leashes"

or

should we all become reclusive and keep our children inside forever so that you do not have any issues and find a better rant than someone else's choice and manner in protecting her baby the best she feels?

I have admiration for those women... they have more balls than most men! they do not care what you think.. just what is best for their baby!

as for the rest of us? we do not.. and we have heart conditions, high blood pressure and are at "alert" and ready better than any soldier!! a twig snaps.. I jump.... it is the only way to keep them safe, right? or are there maybe contraptions out there that can help me keep them safe while teaching them their boundaries? oh.. yeah.. harnesses... hmmmmmm

food for thought

thank you for taking time to read this

sorry if I upset you..... just another perspective offered

have a great night

good luck in all...

I used to think the same way until I asked a few parents and

the answers in three or four cases was this: They're too

big for a stroller or to hold. If we go anywhere, the minute they

can they disappear, get into things, knock things down, get

ahold of things on the ground and put them into their mouths, they do. If we're in a large crowd, they can vanish so fast.

We don't have one minute when we're not watching them or

they've poked someone's dog in the eye. The "leash" is a

safety tool and gives them leeway to wander around us a

bit without going off on a little vacation by themselves. I've

seen some of these kids and they're a handful despite all

the parental efforts to do the right thing. I agree that the best

solution would be to try and teach the child not to roam around but it's asking a lot in some cases.

The simple answer is that it keeps the children safer from being kidnapped.

My mom did this with my little sister back in 1966 and people thought she was crazy. I still have have my little sister, though, and that's more than can be said for many families nowadays.

I think the idea is even more popular now, what with kidnappings becoming bolder and kids being snatched right off of their front lawns.

Given a toddler's propensity to run at warp speed on legs that are full of energy... I think the leash (attached to a harness) is one of the best and most caring ways to keep a child safe.

Wow, what a coincidence my friends and I were discussing this today. People put Children on Leashes for many reasons but most commonly it is to keep the children from getting lost or running away. It gives the kid a bit of freedom (they don't have to be holding the parent's hand) yet still restricts them. It doesn't mean that our kids are nothing more than animals it means that they aren't old enough to be completely independent yet. People put their kids on leashes to protect them. I don't know who thought of this idea but I don't think I will use a leash when I have kids,

Anyone who has ever held on to a toddlers hand knows how quickly a sweaty little hand can slip away..and in a crowd can disappear in seconds. Especially if the Mom has more than one child. The kind of Mom that does this is the kind of Mom that does not want to see her child's photo posted on telephone poles "MISSING"...ran over by cars or in some other tragic accident...A Caring and loving Mother.

Go to places like Chucky Cheese or any other place that children frequent...NOTE the many, many men there alone..loitering and just waiting for that moment when a child is unwatched....they are at Malls, stores, any place they think they can get their filthy hands on an unwatched child or baby...I think it is CRUEL to not do everything in your POWER to protect your child from these BEASTS

Been around here since the late 60s. I never did that to my own child, but I guess if I had enough of them that were still small but too big for strollers? I'd do it (lol)

I'm not as appalled by that as all these parents who don't even hold the children's hands or even watch them. I can't tell you how many kids I've grabbed so they didn't fall on the bus or walk into the street or found wandering around malls.

It's a saftety precaution - and I'm all for that -so really doesn't bother me at all. This is a bad scary world these days. If you have your child on a leash while you're shopping and your back is turned? You're not going to be posting their Missing picture on the 6 o'clock news.

If you have ever been the Mom of very hyper twins...or IF you have ever been the Mom of a deaf child whom you could not call out to if it should get away from you....

There are alot of us Mom's who live in FEAR of children slipping away for just a second and one of the many pedophiles who are standing just moments away getting at our child before we do..IT HAPPENS...OR...that they would run out into traffic...or that something else terrible would befall them. Thats what it is. My daughter is deaf...when she was a little girl and we got into crowds I could only imagine her little hand slipping out of mine for a moment and me not being able to call her...nor her being able to hear pages or other calls. So what you call being animalistic..I call being a concerned and worried parent...I did not want my child being the victim of a pedophile, a sadist, or a kidnapper..or of an accident...I would rather be safe than sorry. I would rather be a careful parent than one of the half-@ss parents.

You know..it's pretty sad when you are protecting your child and a bunch of people compare it to treating your child like a dog..I wonder if it's the frustrated pedophiles wanting to have at your child that hate the leashes. People can think what they will...I rather have that and have my child safe and sound. How judgmental and thoughtless you all are when you don't KNOW the circumstances...

I use one on my daughter it is a teddy bear and snaps around her chest.

It is used to protect her. I don't have a car so I walk a lot on the roads and she doesn't like for me to hold her hand it gets sweaty and all that...

She can't run away from me and she can't run into the street while a car is coming because I have a hold of the leash.

I also know another woman who uses them for her children because she doesn't have a car either and she has seizures. She clips it to her belt so that if she were to have a seizure her children wouldn't run off or run out in the road and get hit by a car.

Nothing but animals? No, I don't think thats all my daughter is. If that were the case I wouldn't be so protective of her.

It's only good for two reason: children who like to run off and people who try to snatch your child who just walked a few feet away from you.

Other than that, I see no other reason for you to put them on a leash. And whatever you do, it should not be anywhere near child abuse(i.e. dragging your kid by the leash).

1st Edit: Do you know how many kids go missing every month? Or every year? Come on. It's better to be safe than sorry.

I Agree and Disagree at the same time.

i have a cousin who has ADD and can see some parents having like 5 kids that are all like 3,4 or 5. Could you imagine having to watch 5 4yr olds + a kid thats 4 yrs old with ADD, I think it is MEAN to put them on leashes, but maybe nessecary sometimes.