Do you avoid certain people because of their kids?

[Frank]

I'm not talking to the single people that aren't used to kids or don't like them. I get that. I know where you are coming from.

I'm talking about other couples/parents. Do you avoid hanging out with certain people because of the way their kids act or what they are allowed to do?

There is one family that as adults, we all have a great time together, but I find their kids extremely annoying and the parents don't seem to care or mind what they are doing. They call us sometimes wanting to do something together but I find myself coming up with excuses. When they bring their kids over, the kids tear up my kids stuff and they are bossy and rowdy. Usually someone has hit someone by the end of the night. If we go over their house, they want to watch movies or play games no 4 & 5 yo has any business watching and I'm always saying "no".

On the other hand there was one family where my kids were the "wild" ones. They were nice people but super strict about things. Kids in bed by 8pm solid, even with company. They were not allowed to watch any Disney of any kind. The little girl tried to tear a page out of my daughter's Sesame Street book "because it was scary" and her parents apparently told her she could do this with her books. Watching "Madagascar" (which I was surprised they were ok with) they told the little girl to cover her eyes because of the scene in the old plane where there was a skeleton.

[Mike]

Yes.

That is exactly why we stopped hanging around a certain groups of friends.
They tend to stop paying attention to the kids when several people are around. We got fed up with cleaning up after them, and chasing the kids around the house making sure stuff didn't get broken.

[03trubluGT]

Ditto.

No matter how personable the parents are, I'm not hanging around Dennis the Menace.

I just do not understand how some people can take the "ostrich approach" to raising children.

[SEB]

Yes!

[Juiced4v]

All the time!

[dumpycapri85]

Ditto.

No matter how personable the parents are, I'm not hanging around Dennis the Menace.

I just do not understand how some people can take the "ostrich approach" to raising children.

100% agree . I have some freinds that threaten the kids but never do anything . The kids thumb there noses and smile while they do what they want . I don't want to be the one to smash there kids so we stay away so my son doesn't pickup any bad habbits . He has enough of his owne .

[Sean88gt]

Yes. And what I find odd is that a lot of times they will default to me as the disciplinarian because my kids are well behaved. I'm not afraid to put someone elses kid in their place.

[mstng86]

So you people don't believe in self-parenting?

[Wicked98Snake]

Yes, and sometimes when we leave our 4 year old will be like "man those kids were crazy, how come they act like that?" LOL, I rule with an iron fist so he's not used to kids doing whatever they want

[bcoop]

Hell yes I do. And I'm sad to say, some of the people I avoid are family. I'm pretty strict. I'll bust my son's ass in front of a crowd if it's necessary. I'm pretty lucky though, my kids are VERY well behaved. With my son, I can stop whatever behavior I don't approve of with a look, and he will sink down in his seat or go sit down quietly. I don't have it mastered with my daughter yet though.

There is one family member in particular that claims I'm too strict, too uptight about the kids, blah blah blah. "They're kids, they're supposed to act like that" actually came out of her mouth one time. Maybe for her. Then again, her kids are "those kids". You know the ones, swinging from rounders and climbing on shelves in stores. She's constantly making empty threats, then gets irritated because her kids don't listen. I'll make a threat occasionally, though it's rare, but I follow through with them.

[juiceweezl]

We avoid people all the time and prefer to have get togethers at our house. That way we can control where they play, what they play with, what they watch, what they eat, where they take food, etc. We have friends that I honestly believe think company is there to take care of their kids plus their own kids. It's like they don't even check on their 3 year old for hours.

We aren't what you'd call super strict, but we make the kids mind others, respect adults and company, and we monitor what they watch on TV or what games they play. We try to keep them outside playing whenever possible too.

[Rreemo]

Indeed - there are some folks we have cut out of our circle just b/c their kids are so friggin bad.

[beaner72]

What if your cool with the kids but the parents are the problem. I've seen parents get trashed at a cookout or some kind of gtg and leave everyone else baby siting.

[SSMAN]

Depends on the kids. I have a cousin and will not stay around long because her kids drive me nuts. Other friends have cool kids, so no issue

[MutherjuggZ]

I have quite a few friends with children, but have never intermingled my kids with theirs...either due to age, discipline, or lazy parents.

There's other friends that have children my kids age as well, but when we gtg, it's few and far between and childLESS

I let my kids make their own friends, go visit their own peeps, have their own "crowd" so to speak. I won't force them to befriend any of my friends children, because there's not one promise that they'll actually get along. Then, animosity between the kids, eventually comes between the adult friends. I make it a point to avoid such things.