Kid on a leash

[Hamish McBagpipe]

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Aside from this handy device, there is also the bothersome aspect of having to look after your children at home which this product may alleviate. Now you can go back to watching the Price is Right and eating Pringles while Junior runs "free":

[ddubois]

A book I was reading about travelling the world with children talked about one situation the author encountered that I thought was profound. He was in the outback of Australia with his 3 year old in a stroller, and his tour guide asked him, "What's wrong with the boys legs?" In whatever rural area the tour guide was from (ariboginee?), such a device didn't exist, and his cultural upbringing didn't allow for the idea that people would stick kids who could walk into a stroller, as a normal means of transportation. He just assumed the boy must have been cripple. After all, why is a boy who can walk in a stroller? To make it easier for the parents, so you don't have to wait for them to rest and/or keep pace with you? To keep them from running off and stay on the path you wish to go along, without having to coerce or discipline them? When you explain the rationale in these concrete terms, it sounds like these are "bad parents" who "can't be bothered to touch or control their kids", very similar to the arguments in this thread about tethers.

What's the fundamental difference between the logic (using that word loosely) of the argument "leashes are for dogs" and "strollers are for cripples"? In this case, the difference between the two is purely societal acceptance.

I like to let my boy run around as much as reasonable. I figure it's good to let him interact with the environment. He has fun, and I like to see him have fun - fun running, being chased, chasing us, chasing the birds, poking at holes in the ground, whatever. But when he has run around too much, so much such that my back is aching from the constant chasing after him, stopping him from going <insert place I won't want him to go>, picking him up and putting back in <area I want him to stay in>, I like all parents, find a way to contrain his movements. Sometimes that carrying him, sometimes it's a stroller, sometimes it's holding hands, sometimes it's a tether. Ironically, of all of these solutions, it's the tether that gives him the most freedom of movement, the least amount of constriction.

He still gets a big kick out of being on the tether - he thinks it's funny, mostly because we use it so rarely, and not for long periods of time. Why do I use it so rarely? Because of all the ignoramuses in the country who would give me stink eye and judge me, just like the people in this thread.

[Duke]

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I'm gonna say that all of you, and I'm saying this without exception, every last god damned one of you if a filthy [censored] and I'm glad that you're in such a high and mighty position as a bunch of [censored] overweight, out of shape, poker nerds on a [censored] internet message board that you can criticize the way a woman raises her children.

You should all be [censored] ashamed of yourselves.

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Kid on leash != raising children.

~D

[JayLear]

That sounds sweet. Can he catch a frisbee in his teeth? Fetch your paper for you?

Hard to imagine an Aboriginey not understanding the concept of a stroller. What in the hell is wrong with us?

[touchfaith]

Yes, being on a leash sucks

[ddubois]

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Can he catch a frisbee in his teeth? Fetch your paper for you?

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No. Depends.

The maturity level of your reply will act as a shining example to parents everywhere.

If you try hard, I'm sure you can instill in your children your value system: 1) no tethers 2) mocking people with different opinions.

[Sponger15SB]

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So... you're pro-tether?

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I don't give a [censored] what she does with her kid. It's HER kid and it's her God-given right to raise him/her however she wants without being criticized by a bunch of [censored] internet monkeys.

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Is it okay if she raises him to be a rich Japanese business man's sex toy?

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Exactly. Poboy you are being incredibly stupid in this thread. What would you say if Swede saw her hitting and kicking her kid? Is that ok and we shouldn't criticize it because its her child?

Clearly there are wrong ways to raise a child. Maybe the kid was autistic or something and he needed to be teathered up when they leave the house, but your comments are just stupid and being refuted by just about every single person in this thread. Isn't there a chance that you're completely wrong and you should start listening to what everyone is saying.

[Hamish McBagpipe]

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No. Depends.

The maturity level of your reply will act as a shining example to parents everywhere.

If you try hard, I'm sure you can instill in your children your value system: 1) no tethers 2) mocking people with different opinions.

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Ah, lighten up, he's just yanking your chain.

[Blarg]

People freak over these things and it's funny.

If you've ever had a kid or been in charge of one, or multiple kids, you know how they can bolt off like lightning the instant you turn your head. That's just what kids do, not a matter of a bad kid or poor parenting. Kids like to run! And they're endlessly curious. Not to mention, they get lost easily and don't know how to logically find you once separated. Everything about a kid's attention span, lack of caution and understanding, energy level, size, and capabilities is absolutely made for getting lost or falling down a hole. Something like a leash keeps them safe and close by.

Equating that to thinking of them as or treating them like animals is one of those funny logical missteps that people are prone to. I think it gets people more nuts because it lets them feel indignant and self-righteous, and that's almost irresistibly tempting. We can be on a moral high ground without actually doing a damn thing, and rise over others by thinking less of them. Pretty good emotional payback for a low investment in thinking and no investment whatsoever in doing or being.

Been in charge of many, many kids in a large foster family since I was very young myself, too, and have never used a leash myself, but wouldn't hesitate to use one. I'd draw the line at muzzles, though. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Not for my kids, if I had any, but for anyone else's kids, for which I think they should be mandatory.

[roxtar]

I have 2 kids and I totally agree, it's a human being not a dog. Quit being so damn lazy and keep an eye on the kid or better yet, spend a little bit of time with them and teach him/her to stay with you while you're in public.

I need a license to go fishing but any self absorbed twit can have a kid. GO FIGURE!!