You need a license to buy a dog.....

   "You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father."  This is one of my favorite lines from the 1989 movie Parenthood said by Kenau Reeves.      
     Sometimes you just have to wonder.  We have all heard/read the heartbreaking stories about a child who died after being left alone in a car.  Tragically 49 children died that way in 2010.  Recently 2 little girls, ages 3 and 4, were found alone in a tent after their parents left to get treatment at a methodone clinic and to sell their blood.  They told authorities that they left the dog with their girls so they would be safe.
    I was riding in the car with Emily and we came in on the end of this story:  A woman is suing a store after selling her child, aged 8, a sex toy.  The woman had dropped her child off at the mall for a couple of hours ALONE!!!  Of course she has NO responsibility in this matter now does she.  
    I just don't get it.  I understand that my view of parenting is well simply put STRICT. I monitor what my kids watch on TV, their internet use, music on the radio use even their friends. In case you didn't know,  my kids are teenagers.  When they were younger they never watched a new cartoon unless I was with them.  They grew up without Rem and Stimpy, The Simpsons and Family Guy.  They were never allowed to simply hang-out at the mall while in Elementary School or Junior High School.  Our mall in Orange Park has a rule regarding how large groups of children/teens can be.  Until they are in High School they may not go to the movies with a group of friends.  I believe that children should be supervised.
    I understand that the world tends to be much more liberal than I am when it comes to raising kids.  Regardless of whether you think Brittany Spears is a good role model for your daughter when did it become acceptable that we hold others responsible for the monitoring of our children?  Suing a store because your child bought an adult toy just blows my mind.   When I grew up the  Bay Shore Mall had a Spencers, many malls have one of these stores.  They always have the coolest shirts and current craze in their windows.  The stores are a dark and smell of incense~what unsupervised child doesn't want to go in there!  In the back of the store is a section of items intended for adults.  I remember my friends and I laughing as we opened each of the gag boxes, honestly not understanding half of what we were looking at.  Guess what ladies and gentlemen.... we in high school NOT 8. Now most malls I have been to have never had an adult store in it so I am going to guess that the child in the above story wandered into a Spencers and bought their toy.  Should the store clerk have sold it to the kid... probably not.  Do they deserve to be sued over it???
    Maybe it all goes back to the saying"It takes a village to raise a child".  I believe in that and am grateful for the help.  However the villagers are usually happy participants, not some teen at the mall making minimum wage.  A mother in California filed suit against Chuck E Cheese claiming the games are actually gambling devices her kids could potentially become addicted to.  HMMM easy solution ... don't take your kids to Chuck E Cheese.  (She has since dropped her damages suit)  Another Mom is suing Tyra Banks because her daughter appeared on her show in an episode featuring teen sex addicts without her permission.  Thought.....why didn't you know where your daughter was and I think you have bigger issues than her appearance on Tyra.
    What leads a mom to drop her 8 yr old child at the mall hand them some money and say I'll be back in a few hours?  How many times has a Mom dropped her kids off at Chuck E Cheese that they've developed gambling issues? How often is a daughter allowed to stay out with friends that she becomes a sex addict?  And where is the Dad is all these filings???  The only suits I found were filed by Dads in regards to outrageous bills.  I was unable to find a suit filed by a dad over what I simply believe to be "I messed up and now want you to give me some money" lawsuits; though I'm sure they are out there.
            Kuddos to this Dad in Texas. The Houston Chronicle reports that after Harris County father Jason Medley saw an online video that included three middle school students making fun of his daughter, he sent cease-and-desist letters to each of the girls' families, promising he would file suit if they failed to leave his daughter alone. He also requested a $5,000 donation from each family to support the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.
  I'm imagining, maybe hoping, that the mom who dropped the kid off at the mall was between a rock and a hard place and believed she had no other options.  No, sorry, I can't make that work.