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Weak Negotiating Fathers
Townhall.com ^ | November 9, 2009 | Mike Adams

Posted on 11/09/2009 5:23:22 AM PST by Kaslin

The other day I was sitting at a deli having some breakfast and drinking a cup of coffee. A man was walking out of the deli with his kids when his son, who looked to be about three years old, asked his dad whether they were going to the park. The dad said “no” because, apparently, they had somewhere else to go. That’s when the boy turned and starting swinging his arms striking his father repeatedly around the groin area.

What happened next also annoyed me. The father leaned down and, in a gentle voice, began to explain why the child’s actions were inappropriate. The father wasn’t at all successful. The kid just kept swinging away and making a scene. The father patiently pleaded with his son “Please stop that, you’re hurting daddy.”

Previously, I observed something similar at the grocery shore. A man was shopping while his two boys ran wildly up and down the aisles. One boy was pulling items off the shelves and throwing them at his brother who had to catch them lest they crashed to the ground. When he tried to toss the items back to his brother – to put them back on the shelves – the instigator/brother would just run away laughing.

The boys’ father stopped the instigating son – obviously the older of the two boys - and began explaining to him why his actions were wrong. After he was finished making sure his son understood his position – that there was no “communication breakdown” – his son simply resumed with his disruptive behavior.

Right now, I’m waiting to board a flight in the Minneapolis airport. A young boy who is about two years old is throwing a tantrum and his father is pulling out a bag of goodies in an effort to appease him. The waiting areas in the A terminal of the Minneapolis airport are pretty small so I can’t get away from the noise. I’ll have to resume writing this column later.

The take off of our flight to Lincoln, Nebraska was delayed for a few minutes. The little boy who threw a tantrum in the terminal refused to stay seated with his seatbelt on before the take-off. After his dad buckled him up he started to scream. So his dad unbuckled him and let him just stand up in his chair and scream. The flight attendant finally told the father that we were not going anywhere until he held firm and showed the boy that he was going to win this battle.

I don’t think the flight attendant really understood just how profound a statement she had made. A society with weak negotiating fathers is one that has little hope of going anywhere. It just sort of gets stuck on a runway while everyone grows impatient wondering what the problem could be and whether there’s some expert who could figure it all out.

It’s temping to over-simplify the problem by saying that most fathers are afraid to discipline their children in public because there are cameras that record their actions and that those actions are increasingly monitored by the criminal courts. It is true that many acts we once called discipline are now called misdemeanors. But the problem is much broader.

The civil courts have been so hijacked by radical feminism that a father’s right to see his own child is now seen as a privilege. Unless the mother actually murders her children she will get custody of them. The father who sees his children every other weekend won’t risk losing custody altogether. That is why any semblance of discipline often dies along with the marriage.

And it’s tempting to stop here and pretend we haven’t oversimplified the problem. But the war on fathers in the legal system really isn’t war. It is a battle in a larger war on men in our society-at-large. No one understands that war better than those of us who teach in higher education.

In the halls of academe feminists are pushing the idea that there are no inherent differences between men and women. The idea is simply too stupid to believe - even for most feminists. But feminists are no different than sorority girls in the sense that they will pretend to be stupid if it means they can get something without working.

Their plan is simple: If male/female differences are all the result of patriarchal oppression, not biology, they can better argue for social engineering and the social welfare it entails.

The feminist war on males reminds me very much of the war on Christians I once waged as an atheist. I enjoyed pointing to the hypocrisy of Christians. But I only did it because bringing them down to my level was much easier than lifting myself up to theirs.

And that is really what is happening with the current epidemic of weak negotiating fathers. It is not about uplifting our children. It is about bringing the fathers down to their level.

But at least we are moving in the direction of equality. It gives us something pleasant to consider while we’re sitting on a runway waiting for the experts.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: mikeadams
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1 posted on 11/09/2009 5:23:22 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

If you spank a child in public, you will go to jail and CPS will take your children.

If you are a mother, you will get your children back with mandatory counseling.

If you are a father, you will be charged with the worst possible crimes, and you will never see your children again.

Why? Because the “adults” that result from these laws are guaranteed to be permanent liberals of the absolute lowest level.


2 posted on 11/09/2009 5:29:09 AM PST by Talisker (When you find a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be damn sure it didn't get there on it's own.)
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To: Kaslin

Male - Strike 1
White - Strike 2
Christian - Strike 3


3 posted on 11/09/2009 5:33:49 AM PST by ryan71 (Smells like a revolution)
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To: Talisker

I would not hesitate to spank my child in public, nor did i hesitate to tell them to shut up in public....got my share of nasty looks, and even had to tell people to mind their own business....i was willing to stand tall in front of a jury and dare them to convict me...screw the busybodies, stand up for your rights as a parent and dare them to come after you.....


4 posted on 11/09/2009 5:37:33 AM PST by joe fonebone (I am racist, hear me roar....I don't give a crap anymore....)
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To: Kaslin

Clearly, the government must immediately have Federal Nannies stationed at all airport checkpoints to arrest and smack these incalcitrant children into submission.

Modern parents must demand full subsidies & support from the Obama administration if they expect a continuing push to raise, musically deferential, compliant, worshipful, communist kids.


5 posted on 11/09/2009 5:39:18 AM PST by sodpoodle (Never give up- Keep Up!!!)
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To: Talisker

Appeasement, blaming the victim, protecting the abuser are all examples of behaviors women decried in the cases of beaten wife syndrome, inviting rape victim, and silent mother who stands by when children are abused by the man in their life. A closer look will reveal that these things have now been displaced from the personal onto America as a nation when we constantly apologize to the world for ourselves (appeasement), ask what we did to bring on the terrorist attacks (self blame) and make excuses for perps as is happening in the case of Fort Hood (protecting the abuser of our family).

The feminized society has not only embraced the noblest of female qualities, but also the very worst, including the need for universal approval. Does this war make me look fat? Men, I beg you to step up and back into your role as defender and protector. Stop being fearful and bullied and afraid of being called mean. Please, please be “mean”.


6 posted on 11/09/2009 5:47:55 AM PST by Anima Mundi (The trouble with trouble is it starts out as Utopia)
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To: Kaslin

My kids know better. I have, and will continue to, raise my children properly, i.e, negotiation where it makes good sense and “because Daddy says so” along with the appropriate force to their seat of education - and I really don’t care if people don’t like it.

I was in Walmart a few weeks ago with my 3 y/o son, who decided to throw a tantrum. I told him once to “Knock it off”, firmly, and when he didn’t, I took off my belt and give him two good swats to the posterior. Tantrum terminated.

As I was putting my belt back on, a member of Walmart management (an obviously militant homosexual female) came running out to where were were, loudly screaming “I’m going to have you arrested! How DARE you BEAT that poor little child like that!” This tirade went on for several minutes, in an apparently northeastern accent (NY or NJ).

When she finally ran down, all red in the face, I calmly said: “Ma’am, I did not BEAT my child - I spanked him: BIG difference. YOUR way has resulted in kids that run wild and apparently don’t have a clue as to what is appropriate behavior. I don’t know where you’re from, and I really don’t care, but around here, people tend to mind their own fvcking business - which clearly this ISN’T! Now, you can call anybody you want; I’ll wait right here. Feel free to use my cellphone if you like. But know this: when you are done, I’m going to sue you and Walmart for 100 billion dollars; I don’t even care if I win or not because I’m going to tie you all up in court for the next 30 years or so. I wouldn’t let my mockingbird mouth overload my wide bulldyke @ss if I were you. Good day.”

With that I turned and left with this fine representative of the indeterminate sex following me screaming that I’d better never come back in her store. I used to number posted on the door outside to inform the area office what had happened. I don’t know exactly what happened to her/it, but I haven’t seen that particular lesbian in the Walmart since.

The moral - stand your ground! Other people only have the power over you that YOU choose to give them.


7 posted on 11/09/2009 5:56:11 AM PST by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: Anima Mundi

Men, I beg you to step up and back into your role as defender and protector. Stop being fearful and bullied and afraid of being called mean.

&&&
I agree. And I would add:
Protect your child from a shallow, selfish woman. Do not father a child with a woman unless you are married to her, and don’t marry a woman unless you are sure she will value the essential role a father has in his child’s life so much that she would not rip you out of the child’s life for frivolous reasons.


8 posted on 11/09/2009 6:01:25 AM PST by Bigg Red (Palin/Hunter 2012 -- Bolton their Secretary of State)
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To: Bigg Red

Many of us really are fulfilling the role of defender, protector, and provider for our families.

However, Satan has infiltrated the minds and policies of those “who bear the sword”,

and any act of being a “father” can be severely punished with the removal of the children from the home and being put in the care of those who are much worse.

So, I’ll excercise caution in public, thank you very much.
At home - yes. Biblical father to the degree that I understand.


9 posted on 11/09/2009 6:27:30 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
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To: Kaslin

Mike Adams can find 10 - 50 - even 100 more examples of Weak Negotiating Fathers. But that’s not the problem.

It’s absent fathers which are the real problem. Absent fathers are tearing apart the fabric of America.

As bad as Weak Negotiating Fathers are; I’ll take them anytime over an absent one.


10 posted on 11/09/2009 6:42:31 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (I am Legend)
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To: Kaslin

Mike Adams can find 10 - 50 - even 100 more examples of Weak Negotiating Fathers. But that’s not the problem.

It’s absent fathers which are the real problem. Absent fathers are tearing apart the fabric of America.

As bad as Weak Negotiating Fathers are; I’ll take them anytime over an absent one.


11 posted on 11/09/2009 6:47:02 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (I am Legend)
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To: clee1

I rarely had to spank my kids in public but when I did it was always quickly and out of the public eye. It was rare because my kids knew better too. Often that “look” from Dad was enough. The first swat was firm but not painful, if needed, the second one was painful.

We never negociated. I cringe when I hear a parent say, “Do you want a spanking?” For my kids, it was already too late.

When my son was about four we were in the supermarket and the kid in front of us was in total melt down over not getting some piece of candy. My son looked at me and said, “Dad, that boy needs a spanking.”. The guy behind us in line said, “He sure does.”. The point is that my son got it.

Both my kids are grown, well adjusted and happy adults. We respect and love each other greatly.


12 posted on 11/09/2009 6:47:32 AM PST by super7man
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To: Kaslin

It begins at home. In my experience, 90% of tantrums are at home (becuase that’s where kids spend most of there time), and that is where the rules are set.

If you haven’t taught them there, there is no way you will be able to correct them when at the airport, restaurant, etc... When those 10% of tantrums happen outside the home, the child should already know that Mom/Dad mean business.


13 posted on 11/09/2009 6:57:26 AM PST by PGR88
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To: super7man

How often to we see parents threaten children with consequences for behavior and then never follow through with the threat? These parents are breaking the Commandment to not bear false witness.


14 posted on 11/09/2009 6:59:05 AM PST by wintertime
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To: clee1; Mrs. Don-o

Post of the day!!


15 posted on 11/09/2009 6:59:45 AM PST by don-o (My son, Ben - Marine Lance Corporal is in Iraq.)
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To: clee1

I don’t agree with ‘spanking’ a 3 year old with a belt. Why not your hand? If you are hitting them so hard that it would hurt your hand so that you use a belt, then YOU ARE HITTING THEM TOO HARD. The pain isn’t the punishment, it is the shame.


16 posted on 11/09/2009 7:28:14 AM PST by sportutegrl (If liberals could do math, they would be conservatives.)
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To: don-o; clee1
Bravo! Bravo!

I have always made sure my boys knew that Don-o is the Head and CEO of Don-o Family Incorporated. He has good judgment. That --- among his other good qualities --- is why I married him!

17 posted on 11/09/2009 7:28:26 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o (My husband has a really nice Y-chromosome.)
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To: sportutegrl

A hand on the bottom is a good way to dislocate a little spine. Better to use a very thin switch that stings but does no damage.


18 posted on 11/09/2009 7:30:32 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
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To: PGR88

Exactly.

Train them at home and there will be fewer incidents in public.

And as WT says, you have to be consistent and follow through.

The kid has to know that there will be a consequence, 100% guaranteed, when circumstances permit.


19 posted on 11/09/2009 7:32:46 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
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To: sportutegrl
I don’t agree with ‘spanking’ a 3 year old with a belt. Why not your hand? If you are hitting them so hard that it would hurt your hand so that you use a belt, then YOU ARE HITTING THEM TOO HARD. The pain isn’t the punishment, it is the shame.

Shame a 3 year old? Are you kidding? As another poster has pointed out, a belt is safer. The judicious application of pain for bad behavior is appropriate. Long ago when my 3 year old daughter played with the stove despite several scoldings not to, the swat to her bottom was intended to inflict pain, not shame. I'd rather her bottom be sore for a few hours than see her suffer the consequences of playing with fire, playing in the street or many other things that would cause her far more harm than a little pain from spanking.

It's the nanny state mentality that you are exhibiting, that you know best about how to discipline children, that is exactly the problem with raising civilized children and not little monsters.

20 posted on 11/09/2009 7:47:22 AM PST by trubolotta
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