Observations of a woman alone on vacation

Here is what I saw last week:
Inconsiderate parents
Petulant children
Insolent teenagers

Why would someone take a baby - less than 3 months old - to a reenactment of a Civil War battle - in July - with cannons booming and rifles firing in dust, dirt, heat and bugginess? Why? I was so happy to see the baby pee all over the mom.

Why would ANY parent think that walking a Civil War battlefield is a good way to entertain or educate a child under 6? (See above). Or that the battlefield is the perfect place for a stroller? (Kudos to shops with signs on their doors, saying: "We do not allow strollers in our shop." That saved many an ankle from being bruised.)

Shrill screaming does NOT belong in a restaurant - even a Friendly's - children screaming does NOT make this customer friendly at all.

Why not educate your kids about the Battle and some of its implications before you leave your hometown? Give them an idea WHY you're dragging them away from their videogames.

And, please, please, please, please - when you're child asks you a question, respond to that question so other people around you will not hear the incessant, "Mom - mom -mom - mom - mom . . . . . . . ."

I guess I became a female curmudgeon the morning I saw little kids running and screaming around the gravesites at Gettysburg National Cemetery. To everything, there is a season - and a place - and that is the place for respect. We don't seem to be teaching that to our children - respect and consideration.

Maybe I'm just turning into an old fart?

No. I don't think so. What is right is right.

Respect, consideration - to get it, teach it and give it.