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Toddlers can cover the distance from the sidewalk to under a car tire faster than you can blink. Ill never judge a parent for having them on a leash.
The muzzle is a bit much though.
For some children, they can teleport non edible items into their mouths. The muzzle is necessary
Humans have build in leashes, it’s called holding hands
Get back to me when you actually have kids.
I once saw a Mom at an information desk at an art museum take her fussy, fidgeting toddler, gently lay him down on the ground, and put her foot on him, Captain Morgan style:
Kid didn’t cry or try to escape. Thoroughly impressive. Might plant the seed to awaken something in the kid when he hits puberty, though.
I appreciate the helpful diagram
When my son was a toddler, I had an older aunt who had no children, but plenty of opinions on how they should be raised. We were visiting one time, and planned a visit to the zoo, and she just insisted that we had to get a leash for him, or he was so going to get away from us, and end up in an animal pen, and get eaten, presumably.
I refused her many orders to get a leash (I didn’t even know where to find one, this was before Amazon), and finally just flat out told her that there would be no leash, we would just have to do our jobs as parents and adults, and actually pay attention to him.
And he only got into animal pens a few times. He hardly got gnawed on at all. He was fine.
Get a leash! You want another gorilla to get shot?
He’s 27 now, and he won’t let me put him on a leash, even though he probably needs it more than ever.
JK, he grew up to be a great guy. You can hardly see the scars where he got chewed on.
It isn’t bizarre to the parent with a kid who will bolt, but still deserves to go outside.
Edit: Just to be clear, this is a pro leash comment.
My kids are very well behaved, not just compared to other ADHD, but to any other kid. However, let them pass the ADHD tipping point where they are too tired, excessively stimulated, over sugared, or god forbid, all 3 at the same time, and they will do the most insane shit just because 2 neurons accidentally bumped together and gave them some stray thought.
You know where those 3 things coincide? At the airport. Among crowds of thousands. Where you can actually lose a kid. I leashed my toddlers at the airport. This also lets you deal with gate attendants and baggage check in. Outside the airport I would tell them to hold my leg while I dealt with counter staff. That way I knew they were with me but had both hands free to deal with paperwork.
The only way a toddler should be allowed on a plane is in the cargo hold
We went millenia without toddlers needing to get on a plane. That’s one area where we’ve regressed as a society.
I have never seen a leashed kid outside of the US/Canada.
Anyone know what people do differently in the rest of the world?
They were popular there for a while. My theory is that we drastically changed raising standards too quickly; we went from spare the rod, spoil the child to don’t beat your kids in one generation. Instead of parents learning how to discipline properly instead of using fear as a motivator, many just let the kids free range. When the kids completely lacked any discipline, they decided the backpack leash was the right answer.
We had a couple of years of super-nanny, people learned how to do a timeouts and actually talk to / reason with their kids.
Maybe, but what shocks me is how much quicker children seem to mature outside the US, like 6 year olds walking across town to get to school in Japan, its gotta be more than “how much do physically vs psychologically beat the kid”, and it doesn’t seem to be “just give the kid more responsibility” since I had an actual conversation with a 6 year old on a train ride in China, he was way more advanced than my 9 year old nephew, and the chinese kid was a private school, only child, so I can’t imagine he had much responsibility.
I think it has something to do with the type of enrichment a kid experiences, like being strapped to a carseat playing a “tap button on iPad, get reward” game is probably as bad for a kid’s development as locking them in a plain white room.
Less car-centric infrastructure. Also for whatever reason a lot of Americans are dumb AF and I’d assume that also affects children in a similar manner. So maybe our children aren’t as suicidal.
I swear to God this is terrifying to me. No wonder the US is a creepy place. And you’ve got people all over this thread defending it cause their parents did it to them. “They were right to leash me I was a runner” Jesus fucking Christ it’s a carbon copy of every thread on corporal punishment ever.
Thank you for writing my thoughts.
Yeah no parenting in the US is weird as fuck and you don’t realize how weird it is until you leave.
When you’re walking in a public place overrun with people, no separation between road and sidewalk, multiple other hazards and a toddler who only moves by running full speed, I do not see a problem with putting a harness and lead on the kid. Parents try their best to pay attention at all times, but when you’re this tired, it’s good to have the insurance. If you want to judge someone’s parenting, judge the ones who ignore their kids so they can spend more time on their phones
People act like apronstrings weren’t a real thing
Apron strings? I never heard of that and didn’t find anything. That used to be a thing?
I’m less concerned with people who leash a toddler than I am with those who won’t leash their dog.
