Some people are not the best fit to be parents. And these stories take an inside look into how horrible parents can treat their own children.
(Content has been edited for clarity.)
Life Growing Up Was Absolutely Horrible For Her Cousin!
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“I have a cousin who is like a sister to me. Before she was finally able to move out, she had to suffer from her horrible dad and stepmom.
For one, she was only allowed one shower per week. Second, she was forced to sleep in a hot attic, before being moved to their basement, which, has a wood burner. The wood burner caused a few fires. Also, the basement tended to flood whenever it rained. Her father wouldn’t let her see her deceased mother’s side of the family. This same horrible man slapped her across the face in a Walmart just because she wanted to buy something with her own money.”
Taking All Of His Anger Out On His Son?
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“The worst parenting I’ve ever witnessed in public involved my boyfriend. His dad was angry initially because my boyfriend didn’t realize one of the DVDs in this audio bookcase wasn’t part of the set, stringing it out like he was dumb for not being able to count the disks. His dad’s anger, though, boiled over into yelling at my boyfriend and his mom over a family situation that happened a few months earlier. During this, he was still trying to find the missing audiobook DVD. He was so furious that he pulled over the car in a restaurant parking lot and decided to the gut the car for that one DVD, still yelling at my boyfriend and his mom in public at this point. He was publicly humiliating my boyfriend and his mom directly. My boyfriend and I weren’t underage at this point, but it was extremely bad parenting on his dad’s part.
Our parents are supposed to model good behavior for the rest of our lives, even going into old age. What’s scary is that we’re doing the same drive again in a month, and I don’t think I can bite my tongue for four hours being squished in the back of the car while a narcissistic parent continually berates my boyfriend, if it were to happen again.”
The Terrible Things You See At The Subway Station
“I was in the subway station at 42nd Street-Times Square waiting for the uptown A-Train.
The Times Square subway station is the busiest in the world. I noticed a lone child sitting on a bench crying. She was about 5 years old. I stood close to her, looking around to see if her parent was close. A couple trains came and went, people, waiting boarded the train and nothing. I sat down next to her and tried to talk to her, asked her if she had lost her parents. She wouldn’t talk to me (smart kid).
I just sat there next to her not sure what to do. I didn’t want to leave her to go find a cop. I didn’t want to take her with me and be accused of being a creeper. After a few minutes, she decided I was okay and talked to me. She spoke quietly and said her mom went to get her brother from daycare. I wasn’t sure what to think about that.
After about 20 minutes, this woman and her ‘mother,’ came stomping up with a boy in a stroller. She said, ‘I got him. Let’s go.’ Then she yanked her daughter up by the arm and went to the opposite platform to wait for the train. I was dumbfounded. She had left her 5-year-old daughter alone in the subway station to go pick up her son from daycare. I saw that the next train they were waiting for was a few minutes away, so I went and found a cop and told him what happened. I pointed them out and went on my way. Unbelievable. I still can’t believe it. How can you be so irresponsible and careless?”
She Left Her Child In The Hot Car, Alone!
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“I was in a pharmacy in the early afternoon, waiting for my prescription to be filled. I couldn’t help but notice an attractive young woman in tight workout clothes wandering around the store browsing. I was probably in there for 30 minutes until I finally got my meds and paid; she was still shopping when I made my exit.
As I am walking out of the store, I notice a small crowd of agitated people around a big Mercedes SUV. This older woman is staring inside the rear window of the car, with tears streaming down her face just jumping up and down with fearful concern, her husband is next to her with a large rock in his hand also visibly upset. I look through the other side of the car and see a tiny infant just absolutely screaming, face as red as a beet and covered in sweat. Oh, by the way, it’s July in southern Florida.
At that moment, a police car and ambulance speed into the parking lot. The medics run up, quickly assess the situation and use some tool to break the front window. They immediately remove the infant and start administering medical attention (some kind of cool blanket, oxygen checking vital signs). The cops then proceed to enter the store, and the small crowd follows, including me. The cops have the name of the owner of the car and have the store announce the name over the store announcement system. The attractive young woman in the tight yoga pants makes her way to the front, she sees the cops and looks confused. The cops kind of roughly pull her aside away from the crowd, but I can hear them asking her questions, and she is just shaking her head saying, ‘I just ran in the store for three minutes to pick something up!’ Not once did I hear her ask about the condition of her baby. She did, however, ask to call her husband more than once.
Finally, the cops let her make a call, and then handcuff her and lead her out of the store, and at that point, she starts crying. Several people in the crowd are yelling at the woman, telling her she is a disgusting person and she should be in jail.
As she is led out of the store, her husband pulls up in a new Maserati and gets out, he is on his cell phone. On his left, is his wife in handcuffs standing against a police car getting interrogated by the cops. On his right is his infant child being loaded into an ambulance surrounded by medics giving it treatment. He proceeds to his left, towards his wife. As he passes by me, I can tell he is talking to his lawyer, something about meeting him at the police station.
The ambulance finally leaves with the baby, and shortly after, the police cars pull away with the lady in the back.
The husband follows the police cars.”
Her Aunt Was Not Stable Enough To Handle A Family!
“We now know my aunt (my mom’s sister) is mentally ill. A paranoid schizophrenic who is completely fine when she takes her medication, but she rarely does. She got pregnant at 18 years old and didn’t want a kid but kept her daughter anyway.
My aunt had her own flat, and my mom lived with my grandmother about a 10-minute drive away. In the middle of the night she gets a phone call from a neighbor, they could hear the baby crying and it sounded like something was wrong. So my mom throws on some clothes, grabs a spare set of keys from my grandmother and hightails her way down there. The neighbors are outside, and they’re a young couple with two kids of their own and they’re super concerned.
My mother opens the door, and the first thing she notices was the horrible smell which made her gag. There is rubbish all over the floor, empty takeout containers, dirty diapers, dog poop, papers, the lot. It’s absolutely disgusting.
They go upstairs and find my cousin standing up in her crib gripping the bars, screaming with tears running down her face. She was soaked, in a dirty diaper, and face red from crying. My mother searches for her sister but she’s nowhere to be found.
After the baby is cleaned up, the neighbors take her next door and promise to look after her whilst my mother tries to find her sister. She makes a few calls, but nothing. Unable to sleep she ends up cleaning her sister’s house because a baby shouldn’t be living in that environment.
My mother is also curious as to where the dog is because there is dog poop and dog food littered about, but no dog. After an hour of searching and cleaning, she found the source of the horrible smell. My aunt’s dog had died, and she had just shoved it underneath the stairs to rot. My mother loves animals and was horrified. She ended up leaving soon after and she went next door because they had offered to let her crash on the couch.
At 8 a.m. the next day, my mom was awoken by a knock on the door. It’s my aunt, who had just got back from a night out and she waltzed in, snatched her baby up and left as if nothing had happened. My mother went around screaming at her, wondering what the heck she was doing and she just shrugged it off like no big deal and went on with her daily life.
Social services were called, as well as the RSPCA but nothing ever came of either visit. The dog eventually got a proper burial. When my cousin was 11, she ended up staying with my mum and grandma, and she’s now 20 and leads a happy, healthy life.”
All The Bad Parenting He Witnessed At Walmart
“Every time I go to Walmart, I see horrid parenting. It’s happened so much I stopped going to Walmart.
A kid went to the movie kiosk stand to look at the movies for sale there. His fat mother went ballistic, ‘Hey! Get away from there! We’re not here for movies! We’re not coming to get movies! Get away from the movies!’ I would have said something, but I was shopping for work and on the clock. The kid didn’t throw a fit at all, the mom was throwing a huge temper tantrum.
Another time while exiting, this old lady with her teenage son walked by. The son went to get a cart and the old lady snapped at him, ‘What are you doing? I don’t need a cart! If I needed a cart, I would’ve told your idiotic-self to get a cart! You are so stupid, you know that?’
A young mother came in with two boys, obviously expecting another, and her poor mother trailing behind. She walked at a fast pace, dragging her boys along, telling them to, ‘Come on! Get up on your feet! Stop being little idiots!’ Whenever the boys yelled in protest, she’d say, ‘Shut up! You’re being little jerks!’ I heard her throughout the entire store.
Last time I went to Walmart, a mother was putting groceries in the car next to me while the father was sitting in the driver’s seat with the kids in the back. Whenever the kids made a sound the dad would yell, ‘Shut up and sit down!'”
She Had More Interest In Her Phone Than Her Child
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“My friend’s ex-girlfriend, who I could write about for hours based off of the few interactions I had with her, had a young child. Not my friend’s child, but from a previous relationship. The child was one of the biggest brats I have ever known, but it wasn’t her fault; I guess because the mother was a piece of trash person and a piece of trash mother. I joined them for dinner a couple of times, which I regretted both times.
The first, we were sitting, waiting on a table. Her child is rolling around on the floor screaming, thinking it’s hilarious, of course. The girlfriend finds it hilarious. Then she sees a family with a baby in a car seat, sleeping. This child was curious and got in the face of the sleeping baby. That wasn’t enough, as she started rocking the car seat back and forth. The parents of this baby had ‘what the heck’ looks on their faces, but my friend’s then-girlfriend couldn’t be bothered because she was taking selfies and stuff. My friend is like, ‘Hey, you need to make her stop!’ The piece of trash, though, was obviously annoyed and rolled her eyes, doing nothing to the child. Later on in the meal, while my friend is in the restroom, the child climbs under the table, next to me and is trying to climb on top of me while I’m trying to eat. The mother, staring at her phone still, occasionally glanced up, but wouldn’t say a word.
Second time. At a restaurant again. A friend and the girlfriend have a fight on the way there, so when we get a booth, the girlfriend and her child sit at another table. Super dramatic, awesome. My friend goes to the restroom at some point during the meal. Girlfriend sees him, gets up and follows him. But first, she brings her child over to me and says, ‘Will you watch her?’ I say, ‘No, I will not.’ Doesn’t matter. She leaves the child and walks away anyway. And no, I ignored the child the whole time, because being a brat isn’t funny or cute and it’s not my responsibility. Nothing happened, but I was thinking, what if the child wandered off and the mom came back and is like, ‘What the heck, you were supposed to be watching her!'”
Parents Losing Their Minds In The Long Lines At Disneyland
“One time during a trip to Disneyland, my buddies and I were in line for the Matterhorn. Being this was a weekend the lines were expectedly long. There was this family of three who found an opening in our line (not cutting) but her husband decided, at that moment, to go to the bathroom. Mom was left with the baby, still in the stroller along with the bags and other items. Mom was visibly upset she would lose her place in line, started yelling at her hubby who just didn’t give a care. After some contemplating on her part, mom just abandons the stroller in the middle of the walking path and went in line. This wasn’t a few steps away from the baby, the mom walked away and dashed towards the line.
We started to yell at the mom that she left her baby, others like me were left in shock. My buddy was keeping an eye on the stroller to make sure no stranger grabs it and runs off with the baby. The mom didn’t return to the baby for three minutes, and still three minutes too long. Her husband had since returned and was on the receiving end of some nasty yelling from the crowd. The parents had no choice but to leave the line while being ‘defensive’ about their actions.”
Now He Know To Treat His Son Better When He’s Sick
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“I’ll preface this by saying that I had two good parents, but no parent is perfect. My dad had to learn a particularly difficult lesson one Sunday afternoon. I was 8 years old at the time, and I’d been sick all weekend. Sunday morning came, and my dad insisted that I attend mass even though my stomach was still hurting. My mom wanted to let me stay home and have the neighbors check on me, but it was of no use.
I went, and by the time church was over, I was miserable. When I realized we weren’t headed for home, I became upset and started crying. My dad was annoyed and told me to knock it off and deal with it.
We ended up at an antique mall, and as I wandered around trying to distract myself, it happened. My stomach started rumbling and sort of flipped. My bowels responded, and though I tried not to let it happen, stuff started leaking out of me, soaking my pants and running down my legs. I fled to the bathroom and sobbed. I was covered in crap. My mom ended up finding me in there, cleaned me up, and collected my dad. He was silent the whole ride home. My mom told me years later that he felt so guilty and upset, he physically couldn’t talk the whole ride home.”
Learn How To Discipline And Pay Full Attention To The Kids!
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“I met someone who let their son order her around and never discipline him. It got to the point that she couldn’t control him; it was more him controlling her. It got so bad that when her son wanted her to microwave him a meal at 3 a.m. (while he is playing video games on a school night), she would have to get up and do it as she was scared of the consequences.
Also, she gave him as many drinks as he wanted since the age of 8.
Another story from a friend of mine: He was helping out with a small high street corner shop, which his father owned, and this mother and her young son came into the shop. The son proceeds to go and choose a toy he wants, while his mother goes around looking for birthday presents for her friends’ kids.
Her son eventually says that he needs a wee, but his mother said that if he goes to the toilet, then she won’t buy his toy (bearing in mind that the nearest toilet was the nearest McDonald’s about 400 meters down the street).
The mother, knowing her son needs to go to the restroom, takes half an hour looking at toys in the shop, which is when the young kid couldn’t hold it anymore and goes on to have the whole carpet covered in urine. Not an inch was dry. The mother just puts the toys back and walks off.
My friend’s dad had to end up closing down after being unable to pay to replace the carpet.
Some parents are just morons.”
He Almost Killed His Child In The Shopping Cart?
“Some idiot father showed up at my work and put his 2-year-old son in a cart. He pushed this kid around for like 15 minutes or so, and the whole time the kid was screaming and yelling and throwing fits. Typical 2-year-old stuff. This went on until this guy finally had it and decided to twist the cart. I was horrified as his son fell out of the cart and landed directly on his head.
The kid’s head made this loud crack on impact but suddenly STOPPED CRYING. A minute later the kid freaked out completely screaming with everything he had.
I had the floor manager call 911 immediately and told the man not to move his son. An off-duty firefighter ran over and started first aid.
When I told everyone what I had witnessed, many of the staff working that day became teary-eyed thinking this kid has to live with such an evil jerk of a father.
When the paramedics came, I pulled one of them aside and gave my statement, letting them know that they needed to call CPS (this was in Ontario).
The father looked like he felt like crap but he also looked more worried about getting in trouble than the fate of his son.
That night, I sat down to a wept a little for that poor toddler and it hit home.
Never saw that guy again. Never heard what happened, if anything. I mean we hope that justice will prevail but all you can do is make your statement and trust that something was done.”
She Decided That Costco Was A Great Place To Scold A Child
“When I worked at Costco, I was helping a lady find a BluRay player for her husband, who asked for a specific kind I guess. She had everything written down on a small piece of notebook paper.
The lady brought along their child who was casually sitting in the cart’s seat, I think he was about 4 years old? I’m not too sure, but he was small and was quiet. He was playing with the little straps meant to hold him in place, not minding anybody.
We’re talking about the BluRay player, and she asks me a question I’m not too sure about, so I turn and grab the box and begin to read it in hopes for an answer.
Suddenly I hear a violent WAP WAP WAP WAP WAP WAP that just keeps going. My eyes flickered up from the box and at the lady who’s now smacking her child over and over and over and over again with the piece of paper. The kid is putting his arms over his head to block the paper from hitting him. She keeps hitting him, and I glance over at my coworker who’s giving me a ‘what the heck’ look.
Finally, she stops and scolds him, ‘I told you not to touch those straps!’ And hits him one last time with the piece of paper before turning back to me to continue our conversation.
The whole scenario was odd and made even me feel uncomfortable.”
His Dad Didn’t Even Care That He Broke The Ornaments!
“This one stupid guy, during Christmas season, was in the store with his 5-year-old and they were standing next to the ornament tree (like a metal skeleton in a shape of a Christmas tree, but empty on the inside). His kid crawled under the tree and somehow ended up INSIDE the tree.
This tree has a green bin at the bottom because sometimes ornaments will drop if tugged too hard or mishandled, most of which are made of glass, but when it does, it’ll fall into this bin to avoid getting glass shards everywhere. We just have to sweep it up daily.
So this kid is like playing in this green bin with glass shards, I only noticed because the kid picked up one of our FULLY GLASS ornaments and dropped it, breaking it immediately. I rushed over to him and asked if the kid was okay. The dad, looking at his phone the whole time, glanced up towards me and then looked at his kid and mumbled, ‘Don’t touch anything,’ to his kid. Meanwhile, I got his kid out and sternly said: ‘This is DANGEROUS. Never crawl under there, okay?’ and then they walked away without so much of an apology, and while his dad was still looking at his freaking phone. I never wanted to kick someone in the face so badly.”
She Gave Into Her Son’s Candy Bar Meltdown!
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“When I worked at a grocery store, there was a regular who would come in with her three kids. Usually, the older kids weren’t bad and rarely caused a scene but the youngest was THE worst. Every time she would come up to check out, the youngest would start asking for candy. She would tell him no and that he needed to eat real food first before candy was allowed. Of course, he would start wailing so loudly that the whole store could hear and she would ignore him. This would go on for a few minutes, and then he would beg her for candy again. She would say no just like she did before but on this particular trip, he started throwing things out of the cart. She smacked him on the hand and told him to stop behaving that way and then he actually hit her back. She yelled at him and told him that she would spank him if he didn’t calm down and he cried some more for a few minutes. Once I was done ringing her up, I told her the total and guess what happened?
She bought the candy bar and gave it to him.”