Bratty Argentine Children & Public Tantrums

LAtoBA

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Okay,

I had to post on a topic that is driving me to my wit's end. I think it's because I live above some of the brattiest children and apathetic parents I've ever encountered in my life.

That being said..the apathy on the part of Porteno parents and their children's public tantrums is beyond belief to me. Granted, in the US you will find your fair share of tantrum throwing children, but in general parents will at least attempt to discipline them, ie. say a few words, grab them, etc. Here the response seems to be, "ignore them until they are quiet", which unfortunately means the public is subjected to minutes on end of the wailing and screeching of a woefully bratty child. Does anyone else notice this or am I crazy?

So my question is do Argentines discipline their children? Do they at least get a time out, because I never see it? I have to admit I've been to several Latin American countries and have never seen the same level of apathy or lack of discipline. Or maybe I just don't see it? And before any Argentine gets overly sensitive, just understand I'm trying to understand the mind set here.....before I one day grab one of these children in public, shake them, and point out to them how much better they have it than the dirty, disheveled, child beggars I see day after day.

Please help me understand.....in a span of a few months I've rethought the whole having kids idea. Help me get it back.

Okay. Rant over. Thanks.
 
you know, I think bratty kids happen everywhere but I think you might have a point about the apathy part. Maybe it's just their parenting theory. Honestly, sometimes it does work, if you give the bad behavior more attention than the good behavior than sometimes it encourages it. But I suppose if you are trying to enjoy a nice meal in a restaurant it's not very fair to you to listen to the screams and cries. I'm interested in what kind of responses this post gets. Hopefully not too many people get defensive!
 
I don't have much time to write, but in a nutshell:

Most BA kids are obnoxious, yes. I believe this is because they are stressed out.
 
laureltp said:
you know, I think bratty kids happen everywhere but I think you might have a point about the apathy part. Maybe it's just their parenting theory. Honestly, sometimes it does work, if you give the bad behavior more attention than the good behavior than sometimes it encourages it. But I suppose if you are trying to enjoy a nice meal in a restaurant it's not very fair to you to listen to the screams and cries. I'm interested in what kind of responses this post gets. Hopefully not too many people get defensive!

Oh yes let me make that clear. There are definitely bratty kids everywhere. What I think is different is the parental response. That's all. I'm just trying to figure out why it seems to be entirely absent (or not).
 
One thing that has bothered me, and as a parent on two, now grown-up, kids, is the way that kids don't go to bed early enough to get a good nights sleep. Kids in restaurants at 10/11 at night... On Friday I was in a noisy bar/restaurant, and at 10.30 two women arrived with their two children, no more than 4 years old, and they all sat down to eat, with the inevitable happening as soon as the kids got bored with their food, they started to play and run around, at one point tripping up a waitress carrying drinks - And did the mothers scold the kids, no, they shouted at the waitress for "hitting" the child - with her leg as she was tripped!

Kids of that age should be in bed before 8 at night, tough if it spoils your social life, you should of thought of that before having kids. Children of that age need 12 hours sleep, not 6 - No wonder they are stressed and always tired, and prone to tantrums..

Sorry my turn to rant over...... (And yes, there are brats everywhere, but you wont see kids of 4 in bars at 11 at night, in most countries I have visited)...
 
I haven't had much direct personal experience with bratty, but that may be because I seldom hang out in places where kids would go or want to go.

But this lack of sleep phenomena here fascinates me, and has produced the theory that maybe at least one of the reasons Argentina is still a developing country, since it has every reason to be developed already, is because the population is too sleep-deprived to do much work during the day, and too brain-dead to think creatively at work. Sloppy brains produce sloppy work habits, which lead to crumbling infrastructure. It's not about money, it's about the inability to think at anything near full capability. Everybody rocks at night when they party, then sleepwalk through the day. If rocking the night away is one's definite of the good life, then fine, but you can't at same time complain that nothing gets done, the society has no creativity, and the the country is crumbling around the edges.

There isn't a medical study I am aware of that doesn't make it plain and clear that in order to function anywhere near one's full mental capacity, the brain needs from 7 to 9 hours sleep a day, and that includes about 4 hours of deep sleep -- so little naps don't count. It is also medically proven that eating large amounts of food late at night are the source of many gastrointestinal problems and produce fast track weight gain. So how does this society function?

My classic example is the single mother - daughter family next door. The girl appears to be maybe 15 or 16. Often I see her all dressed up and heading out for the evening at just about the time I am getting into bed. I awaken early by habit, and just as frequently I see the TV light in her room flickering at 6 a.m. She leaves for school, in her little uniform, at 7:45. I have no clue when this girl sleeps.

All this is very interesting, I think, and I wonder about its effect on Argentine society.
 
I never thought of the sleep deprivation but it makes sense now that people say it. I have an 8 year old English student. He is a smart boy but he really has trouble concentrating on the lessons. Once I asked him what time he goes to bed and he said midnight! When I was 8 I had to go to bed around 8pm. (I used to try to convince my Mom to let me stay up later by saying the other kid's parents let them stay up later, she didn't buy it!!)
 
From what I have seen, parental apathy is quite apparent here. I am trying not to judge since I know that parents from the U.S. and Northern Europe are prone to over-managing children. What I wonder about though, beyond the chronic sleep deprivation, is the affect of so much candy, chocolate, pastries, and caffeinated drinks. I am surprised to not have seen any fat Argentine kids.
 
Jennifer said:
What I wonder about though, beyond the chronic sleep deprivation, is the affect of so much candy, chocolate, pastries, and caffeinated drinks. I am surprised to not have seen any fat Argentine kids.

Wait... you haven't seen any fat Argentine kids?? I see fat Argentine kids ALL THE TIME.
I don't see much of this tempter tantrum stuff being mentioned, but in general note the parental apathy. I think it's similar to the lack of regard for personal space (on the streets or anywhere), maybe a little too much "no pasa nada". Sleep dep makes a lot of sense.
 
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