So we watched the world pyro olympics last Saturday. I wrote about the experience in my column but there wasn’t enough space for all the things I wanted to say. There were some things we encountered that are worth mentioning.
1) About three meters from us was a family with a very young child. “Young” meaning the child could not have been more than two months old — it was still wrapped in a hooded blanket. I don’t know how the baby could have appreciated what was going on. He/she slept through most of the event and I really wonder how the parents managed to protect him/her from the pushing and shoving that accompanied the egress from the baywalk area.
2) The same family brought a child who couldn’t have been a year old — the little girl wasn’t even walking yet. She spent about an hour wailing between the China performance and the Philippine exhibition. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was sleepy but unable to sleep amid that noisy, noisy crowd.
3) To our left was a family with four kids in tow. The youngest, a little boy, was learning to walk. The three older children amused themselves by playing tag. A lot of people had their cameras set up on tripods. The three brats ran around, pushing and slapping each other, oblivious to the fact that they could have damaged other people’s properties. What were the parents doing? Watching them smilingly… indulgently. One boy accidentally kicked one leg of my tripod… I cursed… the parents’ facial expressions did not even change a bit.
Ah, life.
Uh, maybe because there's nobody to leave the child with at home?:shock: Not everyone has a yaya, y'know — which is why there are all these babies at church, crying the whole place down and disrupting the mass. We wonder why these crazy parents bring their babies to church and then realize, oh, it's probably coz there's nobody home to look after the poor kid. Of course, public fireworks shows are a different matter altogether; after all, the mom could just stay at home — but then she probably stays home with the baby all the time anyway, and the only chance she gets to drag herself out of the house with the rest of the family, is during special events like these. That's probably why you see these complete families in public places all the time, with babies and toddlers in tow.
Ay oo there are a lot of parents who bring their children anywhere they go unmindful of the potential danger to their kids and babies. Makes you wonder how come the animals you see on National Geographic and Discovery seem to have more sense than human parents. I mean they know how to protect their young more than some of us do.
i just want to clarify something. i'm not saying that parents should lock themselves up in their houses and not go out at all. on the contrary, i find it sweet when i see families eating out, shopping, or just hanging out together. my point is, there's a right time for everything. sure they can watch movies with their kids– why not? but last full shows that end after midnight? i don't think that's good for the kids.
I agree, Juliet. There is a time and place for everything and the time and place should correspond to the child's age and peculiar needs.
We watched the New Year fireworks display in London on our telly. We watched the Queen's 80th b-day celebration on telly. We watched the Live AID concert on telly & we'll be watching the Princess Diana concert on tell again.
And every time hubby will always moan about wanting to go there – with our toddler in tow. Ayoko nga. Una kawawa ang bata, he can appreciate being outside but I doubt he'd enjoy being squashed. I certainly won't enjoy killing people with deadly stares when they start shoving.
I should record my answer to hubby "when he's older we'll go".
KAWAWA talaga. I don't know what it is with some parents… Yung baby and the little girl that kept crying… kawawa sobra. There are public places where it's more than okay to bring even a very young child. That baywalk area would be a perfect place for strolling but NOT on the night of the fireworks show. Grabe.
Hi Connie,
I really don't know what it is with some parents these days. Yesterday, my brother and i were eating at tokyo tokyo having late lunch. The place was not very crowded/noisy since it was already around 230pm. We sat beside the table of this woman and her son (about 5 y.o.). While being coaxed to eat, the kid was repeatedly banging the end of their umbrella on the wall. The woman seemed oblivious to the noise her son was making. However, after a few minutes, she suddenly shouted at her son. I don't remember the words she said anymore but I remember jumping slightly from my chair. She had this really booming voice you see.
I don't know if 1) we are becoming immune to the constant noise of our surroundings (hence the woman's being unaffected to the banging) or 2) some parents just don't care as much anymore about showing more socially acceptable behavior (whether that refers to their kids or to themselves).
bolsee, how true. our cat takes better care of her offspring than some human mothers do.
jasmine, re socially acceptable behavior. sometimes, it's something as basic as being considerate of others. there are parents who take their toddlers to movie houses and when they start wailing, the parents don't pack them up and leave.
I wish there's a way by which to discourage these parents from bringing their small children to such crowded places. But the problem is – some parents are just oblivious to these things. Hay naku!
when i watched the second night of the pyrolympics, there was an actual crib in the middle of the field. not the foldable or portable type, but the wooden kind. i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. the parents just left the baby sleeping inside while they sat on the grass. i don't want to be judgmental, but i can't help but think how you can call yourself a mom or a dad and be that irresponsible and mindless of your child's welfare. i mean, why would you bring a baby to a fireworks show knowing very well that it's gonna be crowded, it's gonna end late, and it looked like it was gonna rain (it did rain later that night).
re: babies in movie houses. i watched the super late screening of this movie. it started about 11 pm and ended maybe before 2 in the morning. there was this young couple who came in, popcorns, drinks, and two kids in tow. not just kids, but BABIES. i wanted to tell them "maawa naman kayo sa mga anak nyo. take them home and let them sleep on their beds." after all, that was what they did inside the cinema anyway. i mean, come on. for the love of gawd!