And the advice would be?

Oh yeah, I totally forgot to add how I handled the situation mentioned below. So, here we go:

Dear Me:
When your kid made it clear that he felt the old lady at church is a total Pat, how did you handle it?

Me:
I cringed and mumbled something apologetic to the shim. Once I had him alone, I totally told him that the chick is a chick. He argued. He's 3. It's normal for him to have strict gender ideas. That's developmentally appropriate. However, to avoid further embarrassment, I explained that if he ever felt like he didn't know if someone is a boy or a girl, he should ask me in private IN A QUIET VOICE. We talk ALOT about private. We also talk ALOT about quiet voices. He's gotta learn. In the car, we made a list of all the women we know with short hair, women Monster Truck drivers, etc. That's all you can do.

In the Beginning . . .

Good morning, readers! Your kids are brats. Well, not all of them. Some of them are just being kids and that's totally okay. My kid embarrasses me publicly about once a week. Last week he asked a woman (with short hair and excess facial hair) why she was carrying a pocketbook since she is a boy. That's not brattiness. That's a good question. He is a naturally inquistive spirit. I kind of thought the lady was a dude, too. I've just been trained not to say shit like that. He's still in training.

There isn't a thin line between brattiness and kiddishness. Its a broad, large, dark line. If you don't know that, your kid is probably a brat. When you are coming over to people's houses, they lock up their good shit and steel themselves mentally.

Do you want your kid to be dreaded? Oh, and its totally not the kid's fault people use him as a cautionary tale. Its your fault. Stop screwing him or her up. Don't be that parent that is on TV in 20 years wondering where you went wrong and why your kid committed that horrible crime against humanity. Or you'll end up raising your bratty grandkids. Karma is a bitch.

Photo: http://watchmojo.com/blogs/images/kid-dunce-hat.jpg