Discipline doesn’t come naturally to some moms. In fact, it’s something a lot of us (not me, but a lot of us) have a hard time with, especially when it comes to young children. To spank or not to spank? When to punish and when to let it roll? But that doesn’t mean the discipline doesn’t need to happen. Given behavioral carte blanche because their parent(s) are too reluctant to put them in check somehow, kids will run roughshod over the whole household, mom included.
Bristol Palin admits she's no disciplinarian. But the absolute worst thing to do when a little one is showing their behind is to laugh at them. Seriously. It’s not cute and it’s darn sure not funny. So this clip of her being tickled by the hoots and hollers of her three-year-old mini ball of fury, Tripp, set my hackles on fire. Especially since he told his aunt he hated her and then proceeded to call her what sounds like “faggot.”
When I first watched, I had to run it back in disbelief like, ho, ho, hold on: did that boy just call her… that F word? And did they both just giggle their way through the whole debacle? That temper tantrum shouldn’t have happened in the first place—temper tantrums are the absolute worst and I don’t handle watching them well—but certainly, certainly it’s unacceptable for a three-year-old to try to purposely insult an adult and then not be immediately checked because of it.
Secondly, you have to wonder: Where’d he pick that word up from in the first place?
In response to outrage about the moment, filmed as part of their Lifetime reality series, “Life’s a Tripp,” mama Bristol Palin claimed her son actually said that other F bomb, which was of course bleeped out. Her son doesn’t use slurs, she said in her blog, and explains it’s all a big misunderstanding. She admits too that she has a hard time raising Tripp, which most of us can relate to since child-rearing ain’t the easiest job anybody ever signed up for.
Look, I’ve watched the video over and over it sounded like the kid said a two-syllable word that starts with an F. But either one is an ugly term for a child to have in their vocabulary. But it’s her reaction that’s more irksome than his actual slandering. That giggling isn’t going to do much to stop him from throwing name-calling temper tantrums over and over again.
If you’re going to be on reality TV, you’re going to have to hop off the defensive and know that people are going to judge for any and everything, from the color makeup you wear to the way you do or don’t discipline your child. But the mission should be not to “set the record straight,” but to stop copping out about not being a good disciplinarian and learn how to be one. Because it looks like little Tripp needs it, and the older he gets, the less funny it’s going to be. I promise her that.
How did you form your discipline style?
Image via Lifetime
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Comments 45
Also, i completely agree, that for that little boy to be telling his mom he hates her, and using foul languange makes me wonder about his home life.
Lastly, i dont blame Bristol. She was a child when she got pregnant. She may be a legal adult now, but you can see from the clip, she still has a lot of maturing to do.
billsfan, like I said, I didn't see it, but if they told him to stop that's different. Sometimes it is a knee-jerk reaction to laugh when your baby or toddler does something bad you didn't expect, but following it up with a "No," or something is important. If she told him no and to not say it, that makes the whole article stupid and brings me back to my comment on the last article about Bristol Palin: she's another Jenelle in that people are determined to hate her for everything.
Mme.Langley, oh I just KNEW someone was going to say something about her being a "child" having a baby. *eye roll* Age has nothing to do with this. If it was adult parent who did the same thing, would you blame them? If so, then treat teenage moms the same. Age is not an excuse and letting it be one furthers the stereotype that teen moms are bad moms because they're young.
I too am guilty of laughing when my little guy uses bad words.
Everything else aside, Tripp is one beautiful baby.
Some teen moms get themselves together, and do grow up quickly and mature quickly for their child. And that is commendable. I was simply stating SHE still has a lot of maturing to do. From what is out out there, it seems she is doing the mom thing, but inside she is still not mature enough to do what needs to be done. Like not laugh at your child cussing.. And not cussing by accident, like replacing the "t" in truck for an "f" when learning to speak, but delibrate use of a cuss word. And if a nadult couple did the same thing, I would think the same thing, she have some maturing to do.
Just because somone says "she was a child when she got pregnant" does not mean, they are referring to you. I dont know you, or claim to. But Bristol put herself out there to be judged, on what is shown and said about her, so my cmment was about her, nit all teen mothers in general.
Mme.Langley, thank you for clarifying. I apologize for taking your comment wrong. Most of time, when people say things like that, they mean all teen moms, but I should not have taken it out of context.
So BeMyGuest is wrong. The article had everything to do with weight loss and so forth, so a comment on Michelle Obama is certainly warranted.
Of course all children pick up nasty things - from bad words to dirty thing on the playground - but those two looked like two highschool age babysitters, giggling at him.
Why are people mentioning Mrs. Obama, or Mrs. Palin for that matter? This has to do with Bristol Palin's parenting style. And before people pile on me for that comment, Bristol Palin opened herself up for commentary by putting herself and her son on a reality show.