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Really. ok. well i'm surprised that i'm alone here. Maybe I'm more of a prude than I thought. I have an Irish Catholic upbringing and knew you NEVER spoke of such things particularly to a stranger. I find it rude and have to say i hope my kids dont end up like this or have friends that think it's ok to act like this :/
I don't disagree with you, but also think you're looking at it in too starkly black and white terms.
Meaning, no, it wasn't totally appropriate, but not so far out there that it raises red flags.
I took my 4 year old and 2 year old to the park today. There's also a bike path that runs next to it. I saw an older boy walking with his parents and he came onto the playground and his parents kept walking. He was quite big and was trying to get on some little ride and could barely fit in it. Whatever. He was next to us and wandered over to some other little ride that had a seat. He says to me, well this seat looks inappropriate. I looked over thinking it was broken or dirty and it looked fine to me. I said, oh why, what's wrong with it? He just stared at me like wanting me to figure it out. I looked again, studied the seat and admittedly the seat was somewhat in the shape of a penis. It NEVER would have crossed my mind unless the seat hadn't been clearly pointed out to me as 'inappropriate.' I was floored that a kid I don't know was pointing this out to me, a 39 year old mother there with two small kids. I felt a bit annoyed quite honestly...like what 'balls' this kid himself has and how inappropriate is he! I just said, well i guess it depends on what you're thinking about and walked away. I then said, how old are you? He said 9 (!!).
His parents came back and i heard him say to his mom, hey look this seat looks like a penis and she laughed and said, oh only you would think that and made some comment to her husband or partner about perverted children.
I can remember when i was 9, my mom telling me about periods I think since I was in the age range of possibly getting one. I laughed with friends about body parts i suppose but never in my life could i imagine going up to an adult i dont know at a park and pointing out such a thing. It seemed really creepy.
Is it just me? I am no prude...but I guess I am when it comes to talking about such things with children I dont know! WTF? Maybe his family talks like that about everything at home. Bad manners...maybe i should have told the mom what he said to me?
When my nephew was a little older than that he drew a picture of himself showing testicles with hair. What's weird is his father and mother posted it on their fridge?
When my nephew was a little older than that he drew a picture of himself showing testicles with hair. What's weird is his father and mother posted it on their fridge?
He likely just has vulgar parents and is growing up in a vulgar environment.
I dont think kids should not KNOW things but you should know that certain things shouldnt be said to certain people. He hasn't learned this. He thinks it's ok to talk about genitals with strangers.
It's good that the 2 year old knew that. He's correct
I agree with this and none of my 4 (all now grown) would've thought it was "appropriate" to say that to an adult and I agree it makes him seem cheeky and overly bold BUT...
had he said a "dirty" word used to reference male genitalia that would be way worse and indicate a whole different problem with the kid's reasoning.
From what you recount, I bet he is more of a smart aleck who is used to interacting with adults like an equal (sadly as so many parents encourage children to do these days) and is accustomed to these sort of "jokes" with his parents; you say the parents laughed, mine would've gotten a sharp correction and probably a slap to drive the point home.
When my nephew was a little older than that he drew a picture of himself showing testicles with hair. What's weird is his father and mother posted it on their fridge?
He did this at age 9-10?
Not just weird, effing weird; even weirder he showed it to his parents
I agree with this and none of my 4 (all now grown) would've thought it was "appropriate" to say that to an adult and I agree it makes him seem cheeky and overly bold BUT...
had he said a "dirty" word used to reference male genitalia that would be way worse and indicate a whole different problem with the kid's reasoning.
From what you recount, I bet he is more of a smart aleck who is used to interacting with adults like an equal (sadly as so many parents encourage children to do these days) and is accustomed to these sort of "jokes" with his parents; you say the parents laughed, mine would've gotten a sharp correction and probably a slap to drive the point home.
I think that this is likely.
I have teenagers and I have worked hard to contain their "inappropriate" joking, and force, enforce, remind, scold, and generally pester them to be conscious of those around them and not offend others. But at some certain age, they want to feel like grown ups and they think that's how we joke with one another. But they still have a bit of the child's obliviousness and social awkwardness going on. It's a rough time.
Mine were somewhere in the 10-12 ballpark when I took my two sons and a friend (another pre-teen boy) to a buffet one night. One of those Golden Corral places, the kids love it with all the desserts and whatnot, you know. And there was, for some reason, a clown there that night who was wandering around making balloon things for the kids. And...*sigh*...he thought it would be a good idea to make "swords" for the boys at my table. Those swords, seriously looked more like representations of male-parts. Next to us there was a table with several little girls. I knew...I KNEW...what was going through the minds of those three boys, and I sternly and quickly, as the gears began to turn and the smirks began to snerk, loudly said to them, "NOT A WORD! YOU KNOW, AND I KNOW, AND YOU NEED TO BE QUIET." That clown looked bewildered for a moment, then he looked at the boys, and the "swords" and literally did a facepalm. I muttered something about teenage boys, and the boys managed to (barely) contain themselves.
At least until we got to the car. Then it was a free for all of D jokes for the entire ride home. Call it a reward for them managing to behave in the restaurant. One can only expect so much.
I have teenagers and I have worked hard to contain their "inappropriate" joking, and force, enforce, remind, scold, and generally pester them to be conscious of those around them and not offend others. But at some certain age, they want to feel like grown ups and they think that's how we joke with one another. But they still have a bit of the child's obliviousness and social awkwardness going on. It's a rough time.
Mine were somewhere in the 10-12 ballpark when I took my two sons and a friend (another pre-teen boy) to a buffet one night. One of those Golden Corral places, the kids love it with all the desserts and whatnot, you know. And there was, for some reason, a clown there that night who was wandering around making balloon things for the kids. And...*sigh*...he thought it would be a good idea to make "swords" for the boys at my table. Those swords, seriously looked more like representations of male-parts. Next to us there was a table with several little girls. I knew...I KNEW...what was going through the minds of those three boys, and I sternly and quickly, as the gears began to turn and the smirks began to snerk, loudly said to them, "NOT A WORD! YOU KNOW, AND I KNOW, AND YOU NEED TO BE QUIET." That clown looked bewildered for a moment, then he looked at the boys, and the "swords" and literally did a facepalm. I muttered something about teenage boys, and the boys managed to (barely) contain themselves.
At least until we got to the car. Then it was a free for all of D jokes for the entire ride home. Call it a reward for them managing to behave in the restaurant. One can only expect so much.
LMAOOOO I ALWAYS thought those balloon swords looked phallic! Ew.
I agree with this and none of my 4 (all now grown) would've thought it was "appropriate" to say that to an adult and I agree it makes him seem cheeky and overly bold BUT...
had he said a "dirty" word used to reference male genitalia that would be way worse and indicate a whole different problem with the kid's reasoning.
From what you recount, I bet he is more of a smart aleck who is used to interacting with adults like an equal (sadly as so many parents encourage children to do these days) and is accustomed to these sort of "jokes" with his parents; you say the parents laughed, mine would've gotten a sharp correction and probably a slap to drive the point home.
^^^^This. I think that this scenario is most likely. The kid that you encountered at the playground probably comes from a household where it's pretty open and that kind of joking is okay. Since his parents found it funny then they apparently find it alright. I would not have lost my mind if my daughter had done that at age 9 but would have had an offline discussion with her about not making jokes like that in public to other people.
Crude humor is common around that age. I remember my friend and I having swearing contests to see who could come up with the most vulgar phrases/words and telling crude jokes about bodily functions/body parts when I was about that age. We would laugh about how hot dogs were phallic shaped and make obscene sculptures out of Play-Doh, do naughty drawings, and so on. Typical immature stuff kids do.The big difference being that I would have NEVER told any of this to any adult, lol. I wanted to be able to sit for dinner
The kid had no boundaries. He wanted to talk about a seat HE thought was shaped like a dick with a strange woman in a park with her kids!
Or he wanted my reaction.
Either way I dont think this was 'normal' at all. I'm surprised how many people brushed it off. Sure I'll go on with my life and will forget about this...but I wonder if he'll grow up to be a dirty old man if his parents dont step it up with what is and isnt ok.
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