Friday, November 26, 2004

Take My Kids, Please

The latest reality TV throws parental responsibility out the window. Here’s the official description of "Take My Kids, Please", a new show from WE: Women’s Entertainment.
Get set to watch the madness that ensues when singles attempt parenthood on the all-new WE original series Take My Kids, Please! In each episode, beleaguered parents are whisked away on a well-deserved romantic retreat while an inexperienced single friend or relative is left behind to care for the little darlings -- experiencing a frantic and often hilarious crash course in Kid Care 101 in the process.



As a father of three, I am stupefied. "An inexperienced single friend or relative"? That’s not "hilarious" – it’s frightening. It took my wife and I more than a little time to learn what we know about parenting (and we do not claim to be done with such learning) – to even imagine leaving our 5 year-old, 3 year-old and 1 year-old with a single friend or relative with no experience in child protection would be nothing more than stupidity.

The reason that having kids is so exhausting is because every day a kid gets something stuck in her throat, or is about to bonk their head on something sharp, or would run into traffic... but parents are there saving their childrens’ lives over and over again every day. Is my single friend who still has a beer-themed mirror over his pool table the right person with whom to leave my kids for the weekend? Or my sister-in-law and her hubbie, who have no children but breed poisonous snakes in their house?

That’s not entertainment – it’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

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