Halloween Rant

We went on a community hay ride.  They have trailers and they stop at preset points where (usually) several neighbors/friends gather together to hand out candy.  It was cold but a lot of fun.

We were on a trailer with several other families.  Now, we don't know these people and maybe it was just a bad day, but I cannot tell you how hard I tried to bite my tongue on that ride.  Most of the kids were wonderful, don't get me wrong.  Great costumes, nice kids, nice parents, having a good time.  But good pickles, I wanted to throw one set off the trailer!  You should be proud of me that I didn't!  Really!  

The kid was ridiculous was probably 9 or 10 years old and pretty tall for his age.  He'd practically plow over the smaller kids trying to be the first one off and back on the trailer.  He complained LOUDLY about what candy people were handing out, he wanted more chocolate, he didn't like that, this candy sucked, on and on.  He insulted trucks, telling people how 'my' truck is cooler than yours.....like the man who volunteered his truck and trailer and WAS PULLING US.  He talked back to his Mom when she told him to be quiet.  He ignored her when she told him to stop eating candy or she'd take it away. She didn't.  You're not surprised, right?  I informed him if I had been the man pulling the trailer I'd have told him to feel free to get off and walk home because he was so rude.  I don't *do* rude kids.  I just don't.  Ask my Scouts.

Here's the thing, though.  His Mom was whining about why he was that way.  Did nothing to get a handle on him other than threats he obviously knew were empty.  That was when she could be bothered to take her eyes off her phone and stop texting.  

At one point I told him to either slow down so he'd stop stepping all over people and their costumes because he was going to hurt the little kids or he'd just have to wait and be the last one off at each stop.  She glared at me, but said nothing and he actually did slow down.  Hey, lady, if you aren't going to do anything, I will.

She spent all of the time she wasn't whining about him bragging about how horrible she was to her ex-husband.  The kid's father.  

Like:  she asked him over the summer to let her take the son out of state on vacaction to visit family for a month.  He agreed and they went.  He then asked her to switch a weekend when they got back so he could see the son earlier since they'd been gone during his visitations.  She refused.

How she takes him to court to request increasing his child support EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.

Just because.

How he was supposed to have the son on Halloween (court ordered) and she knows he gets off work at 5:00 in a town 30 minutes away so she told him he could have him if he was there before 5:00 so she had the son all dressed and in the car and at 5:00 exactly texted him that since he wasn't there, they were leaving and refused to tell him where they were so that maybe the guy could at least join up for part of the night.  Then she was laughing at him when he was sending texts about the situation, laughing about too bad for him.

ALL IN FRONT OF THIS KID.

How on EARTH is he going to learn any manners or civilization when his own mother is so disrespectful of her son's father?  Now, maybe he's a big jerk or a crook or a compulsive liar, I don't know, but I do know you don't say those things in front of your child when they are that young.  

You know what happens when you do?  He realizes that you don't respect his Dad at all........and in return, he doesn't respect you at all, either.

Guarantee you that thought has never crossed her mind.