“What Screams ‘I’m A Bad Parent’?”: 50 People Hold Nothing Back

Filming everything your child does and creating a social media page to garner likes and ad revenue.

Your own children being afraid of you, no child should be afraid of the person that looks after them nearly 24/7.

When the older kids have no life or time on their own as they're too busy raising their siblings.

Using children as pawns in divorces or separations.

I'll use my mom as an example: When their goal is to have a child, not to raise an adult. So they purposefully keep them young, discourage independence, and pour their entire identity into being mom. Then, when that kid becomes an adult, they have no idea what to do with their life.

Letting your child watch a video on their iPad on full volume in a restaurant. Please parent your child and engage with them so they know how when they are older.

Taking their bedroom door off because they haven't "earned" privacy.

Being on your phone while the kids are running rampant. i get people need breaks but at a restaurant i don't really want kids coming over to my table and messing with food and screaming everywhere.

Stealing from your child. When I started college I had saved up about $800 for books and supplies. Two days before class starts I go to buy my book. I have $600 worth of stuff ranging from up and my card declines. I put everything back and check my bank app. I have $30. It says that the last transaction was an in bank transfer to my dad account. I called him and asked what happened.

His response:
“I was short on bills. I’ll get you back in two weeks on payday.

Me: “ok but you didn’t ask. I need that for school and I just looked like a moron since my card declined.”

Him: “I’m the parent. I don’t have to ask you for anything. You should be grateful I’m giving it back at all. It’s not my fault you didn’t check your bank account before trying to make a big purchase.

Later that night he cussed me out for changing my passwords and log in info. He says he has the right to see what I’m spending my money on.
I got the money back a week later with an extra $200 “for the inconvenience”.

But the damage was done. I already had flunked two quizzes because I didn’t have textbooks and my library only had the outdated copy that gave me wrong answers.

Treating your kid as your therapist.

Having extremely unreasonable, unrealistic expectations for your child, i.e., maintain 5.0 GPA Pre-K to College, earn a noble peace price at 20, somehow get married at 25, and have 6 kids by 30, get six figure job right after college, take care of the entire family on their own dime etc.

Never apologizes.

Being Anti-Vax.

Constantly yelling and losing it on your kids. How are they going to learn about stability and communication with parents like that.

Trapping a child in a car as you smoke. Add into the mix the child has chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is a pulmonary disease, not a cold. No child should have this. Commenting for a friend.

Not having open lines of communication, where your children feel they can't talk to you about their day, concerns at school, or what's on their mind, might indicate a need to work on the relationship.

Parents (usually moms) that self identify as “crunchy/silky/scrunchy/almond/whateverthef**k moms”. Parents that post their kids all over online on the same pages they post their OF links and photos and videos of themselves half naked. Parents who tell everyone their kid is neurodivergent as an excuse for their behavior, especially if they’ve never actually been tested. Family vloggers. Parents who exploit their disabled children for money/attention. Parents who post videos of their kids throwing a fit or getting hurt because they think it’s funny. Parents of adult children who no longer speak to them.

Fetal-alcohol syndrome. When you see it, you know. If you don't know, Google right now. Had a classmate in grade school with it.

I was walking through the forest, minding my own business, when a family walked past me going the other way. The father was covered in tattoos and looked older than he should. He had a cigarette hanging out of his cap. The mother was platinum blond wearing all black stretch fabric and a polished face mask of pale looking makeup. They club. And I don't fault them for their lifestyles or priorities. The mother was pushing a stroller with a child; it was a paved trail. The father was just BITCHING about anything and everything - I've never heard so much bitching in a forest, of all places. It's how I knew they were there - I heard him before I saw him. They had a little boy in tow - probably 7-8. My problem with them all was that when we both came around the bend, when they saw me as I saw them, THE FIRST THING this child just out of diapers did, was shout, "HEY! F**K YOU! HEY! HEY! F**K YOU! F**K YOU!" - over, and over again, flipping me the double bird. The father was indifferent, and the mother was hoping to ignore the whole thing. I looked the kid in the eyes and said, "Your parents must be so proud of you." And I carried on.

I met up with an old friend. He and I go back to diapers. I haven't seen him in 15 years and we got together for his birthday. He invited some other friends out, too. So we were having a drink when his friends showed up. They had a son. He was 3-4. This was 11pm on a Saturday, in a bar. The child had deep bags under his eyes. They ordered him caffeinated Cola, and poured it into a sippy cup for him. He complained he was tired, they told him to sleep in the booth, which is impossible in a bar at 11pm on a Saturday. Frankly, I had lost my appetite, as it were, to this, and endeavored to speed the night along for the child's sake.

Children bear the burden of their bad parents. You look how they behave and that tells you everything you need to know. You look at their outbursts, their scars, their fears, their coping mechanisms.

Sheltering children from uncomfortable feelings.

You have to let your kids learn to process and handle those feelings. Don't assume something is too hard for them to understand, I promise they already know something is happening/wrong, so help them understand it.

This also goes for punishments too. Nobody likes to make their kid mad or cry. It's not fun grounding kids for a messy room, not getting chores done, or lying but they need those life skills. You've only got a set amount of time to teach them to be good, thoughtful, respectful humans.

Trying to be your child’s friend and not setting structure or expectations or disciplining them.