Lazy Kids - Tying Shoelaces

Part of the playground where I worked
*All Rights reserved 

You know what really grinds my gears about the current generation of parents & kids today, some parents are babying their kids WAY too much. I work with elementary kids, I don’t think it’s acceptable for a third graders not to know how to tie their shoes. What the heck is going on?  Either these kids are stupid, their parents are dumb, or society has decided to dumb down a generation to help the other generations out.  

One day, I told several third graders to tie their shoes before they played a game with me, shockingly, a few of them walked over to me and put their foot out and looked away. Excuse me? I am not responsible for tying their shoes, I am not their servant.  I looked at those kids and said, “Sorry, but I’m not here to tie your shoes, that’s something you learn in kindergarten. Tie your own shoes or you don’t get to join the game, we don’t have enough time for people to trip on their shoelaces during the game.”

Here’s the best part. When I went back into the “teachers lounge” (more about that in another post), I shared my shocking discovery with another lady I work with. She told me that her son, a fourth grader, did not know how to tie his shoes and that it was ok.  Then, she said the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, “The doctor said that he’ll learn to tie his shoes when he’s ready.” WTF?! Since when do kids have the option to decided whether or not they want to learn basic life skills? Really? Learn to tie your shoes when you’re ready? Give me a break, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, I hope she was just making that up. Then you know what, maybe we should all learn to brush our teeth, wipe our asses, use a fork, etc. whenever we’re ready.  Ridiculous.