Parenting "skills" I observed today

[jennygirlmt]

My 2 year old had a bone marrow transplant for not having a functional immune system and I still wouldn't gasp at that. Holy judgy!

And for some reason my brain translated elevator as "Disney bus leaving MK" and I thought that sounded a bit much for a 5 year old who doesn't speak English. But elevator in your hotel? Nope, agree that some people are way too paranoid and overprotective.

Do you have kids?

 

[agavegirl1]

In a documentary a few years ago, a team went around and tested every surface during a family vacation. The results for the highest germ and bacteria levels are as follows. Drumroll please.
3. TV Remote
2. Roller Coaster safety bar
1. The children's hands.

 

[NYUBwayBaby]

When my sister was in Copenhagen a few years back she noticed people would just leave their kids in strollers outside when they popped into a cafe. That kind of surprised her. Just different cultures, though. And honestly a child is far more likely to be abducted by someone he or she knows (something like 76%) than a stranger. If the kid was on the elevator and didn't seem concerned I'm sure he knew how to get back to his room.

 

[Lesverts]

I don't know about the 5 year old one. I've seen a lost child in the parks. I didn't intercede directly because of my own paranoia, but I certainly monitored and got a cast member involved so the kid didn't wander too far off from his family (that he was running away from).

 

[maryj11]

I would not let my kids pick up dropped food and eat it at Disney, at home yeah if it is something dry.
I also would not let my 5 year old out roaming alone at Disney. Better safe then sorry. He might of been capable of finding his way back to the room or where ever he was going but you never know what type of people are around.

 

[Brittni__duh]

I work in the prepared foods department of a food co-op. We have a "zero waste" goal as a store and as such, any item we can't sell (past date, items we don't carry, damaged packaging, produce with imperfections, etc) goes to staff, food banks, soup kitchens, or a local farmer's compost pile. Free food is free food. I've seen grown adults eat some questionable things. When we stop serving pizza by the slice after lunch, all left over slices go to staff. One woman picked a slice up, dropped it face down on the deli floor, picked it back up again, shrugged, and ate it. We all manage to survive.

Germs are good for you. Without them, you wouldn't have a thriving immune system.

 

[wsssup]

And how does this relate to Theme Parks attractions and strategies?

 

[agavegirl1]

And how does this relate to Theme Parks attractions and strategies?

Good point.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I can understand OP's concerns with those two incidents. IMO, though, the really bad parenting is when mom or dad is dragging their scared, crying child behind them like a sled to ride something overwhelming (EE is a great example) that the parent clearly wants to ride a lot more than their kid does.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Different strokes, different folks. I was very independent as a child. If you knew some of things my parents let me do/read/watch, you'd probably be calling Child Protective Services! Of course, here I am, 18 years old, a college freshman, and still alive

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

I don't think the word "skills" needed the scare quotes. It's a skilled parent who knows not to sweat the small stuff (ok, I'd have said something to my own kid, because I have one who can be gross at the drop of a hat (or a pretzel bite), but people have varying tolerance levels and it takes all kinds to make a world) and it's a skilled parent who knows what level of independence their kid is ready for!

 

[cjbcam]

I would be concerned the kid would get into the pool and drown. I would be grossed out by the kid picking food off the ground but also know my kids have probably done it as well. If I saw them I would tell not to but it wouldn't shock me.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

In a documentary a few years ago, a team went around and tested every surface during a family vacation. The results for the highest germ and bacteria levels are as follows. Drumroll please.
3. TV Remote
2. Roller Coaster safety bar
1. The children's hands.

Isn't number 2 basically how the measles spread at DL last year? I think it was a dark ride, but I thought it was a ride bar none the less... GROSS!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Maybe i make too much of these but it just amazes me that some folks would be so callous about their kids.

#1 isn't being callous. It's having a different definition of health and "yuck" than you do.

#2...you didn't even SEE the parents. You have zero idea if the kid was out with them knowing, without them knowing. If he jumped on the elevator while they were waiting for someone else. If he was taking the elevator while they took the stairs. etc. You only saw him. You cannot make assumptions at all.

My DW asked him if his mommy knew where he was as he was alone. He looked at DW then responded in French so obviously he had not understood the question.

Actually...since you didn't say that he said "I don't know what you said" in French, I assume you don't speak French? He could easily have understood your English but be responding to your question in French. Just because we aren't bilingual doesn't mean European kids arent!

He tried to eat a cigarette butt he found in the sand at the beach.

My dad was a Greyhound driver. We spent a lot of our weekend visits with him on buses when "oh, what a surprise, they called me into work even though I told them you would be here". Often it was a "deadhead" bus home, where there were no passengers on the bus. This was in the 70s when people could smoke on buses. My parents (and stepmom) at the time were smokers and I hadn't developed massive allergies and later asthma quite yet. It was still a normal thing to see adults smoking. And I cannot tell you the number of times I would open the ashtrays at the seat on those buses, pick up some random stranger's cigarette butt, and put it in my mouth to pretend like I was smoking.

Shudder.

And yet...no dread diseases.

Isn't number 2 basically how the measles spread at DL last year? I think it was a dark ride, but I thought it was a ride bar none the less... GROSS!!

That is a respiratory disease. So...NO.

 

[Alesia]

Isn't number 2 basically how the measles spread at DL last year? I think it was a dark ride, but I thought it was a ride bar none the less... GROSS!!

It is impossible to trace a measles outbreak to a specific surface or a specific ride. If an infected person sneezes or coughs, 90% of the people who either breathe that air or touch a surface that is contaminated and then touch their own mucus membranes will become infected unless they are immune. The virus can live in the air or on surfaces for 2 hours. Literally everything that "patient zero" coughed or sneezed near, as well as the air around them, was a source of contagion.

If someone near you has the measles and you're not immune, you're almost certainly going to get it. It doesn't matter how careful you are about touching things or washing your hands.

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

Isn't number 2 basically how the measles spread at DL last year? I think it was a dark ride, but I thought it was a ride bar none the less... GROSS!!

The reason it is imperative to be vaccinated for measles is because it is extremely, extremely contagious (not to mention dangerous) -- airborne diseases are extremely dangerous, there's really nothing Disney could've done to stop that.

 

[Duckiedee]

OP it doesn't sound like you have kids.

The food - there is hardly any transfer off concrete and kids are fast.
The elevator - kids can slip in past you very easily - mine have done it. They survive.
Small 8/9-year-olds could look like 5-year-olds. And if the ice cream wasn't everywhere he was likely older than 5.

And believe me, in both these 'incidents' neither is an indication the parents don't care. If they didn't care, they wouldn't bring their kids to Disney.

 

[Delirium]

I would be more concerned about the lack of nutritional value in the snack. In fact, if an insect or spider happened to crawl on it while it was on the ground, and he ate it along with the snack, there may have been some nutritional benefit, such as protein, added.

 

[Klayfish]

First of all, I totally disagree with anyone saying that there isn't any (or minimal) "transfer" if it hits dry ground, or hot ground, or whatever. That's simply not true. The whole "5 second" thing is a myth. There have been studies done to prove it. In fact, I remember hearing about one just recently released. If it hits the ground, it can pick up bacteria, germs, whatever.

Now, having said that, I still shrug my shoulders at the concern over it. There are certainly extreme cases, like I wouldn't let my kids eat something that momentarily fell into dog poop. My kids (and us adults for that matter) can pick up just as many germs/bacteria/junk on our own hands without knowing it and then grab food with those very same hands. While I certainly don't encourage it, I wouldn't have a major issue with my kids picking something up they dropped at WDW...I'm sure they have.

Besides, if it was one of those snacks that WDW charges a kings ransom for, they darn sure better eat it even if it falls on the floor.

 

[Turn the Page]

I remember a TV commercial about a decade ago for Sparkle paper towels that had some country singer. The commercial showed the woman sitting in a kitchen talking to her friend about germs and how she knows that wiping her daughters cup with a Sparkle paper towel keeps her daughter healthier because it cleans germs off the sippy cup from when the cup was knocked off the high chair onto the kitchen floor momentarily. Not having gotten anything sticky or wet on it. Simply fallen off the high chair onto the dry kitchen floor and wiping it off with a dry paper towel was supposed to wipe all the germs off. Ummmm....ok.

It was around then I noticed my ex in laws wiping DD10's (she was about a year old at this point) sippy cup off with a dry paper towel if it fell to the floor. I just kind of looked at them and asked what they were doing and they informed me they were cleaning the cup off so she didn't get germs. I did an internal eye roll and just said ok.