Parenting, Part the Second

This will be much shorter than my previous rant on this subject (I think).

Again, I must start off with a disclaimer:

I do not have children. I am well aware that this makes all of my views and opinions on parenting null and void to those who do have children, despite my degree in Child and Family Studies and my experience as a preschool teacher. That said, this is my blog and I have a right to voice my opinion on any matter that I see fit. So here it is.

I'm back on movies. And here is my opinion today. I love children as much as the next preschool teacher, but your two year old does not belong in the movie theater. Especially not during the showing of a movie that is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence (I saw Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby today). Find a baby sitter for the two or three hours on a Sunday afternoon, or wait until the movie comes out on video. Please. Children younger than 5 or 6 (and I think I'm pushing the limits going that young) do not have the attention span or the physical capacity to be still and quiet through an entire movie. And they have absolutely no business watching any movie with Will Ferrell in it, either.

I understand that parents are humans too, and as such do have the need on occassion to get out and enjoy a movie that isn't animated or incredibly hokey. But can you really enjoy the movie if you are constantly wrestling your child back into his seat?