When a family visits Disney World, especially for that once-in-a-lifetime trip, the stakes can feel so high. There’s money on the line. There’s pressure to ride all the rides, make all the memories, and meet all the characters. So, when kids start to act up… some parents cannot deal, so they scream, they drag their kids along, they, too, have a meltdown. It’s not pretty, especially at the happiest place on earth.
A pair of teachers witnessed some of these less-than-perfect parenting moments on their recent trip to Disney World and had some insightful thoughts on realistic expectations for parents traveling to Disney World with kids.
“The parenting that we have witnessed at Disney World is actually atrocious,” TikTok user Syd (@justagentlethem) says in their video before diving into an example they saw earlier.
“This morning, we were going on like the little safari in Animal Kingdom, and there was a family behind us that was carrying [their] screaming three-year-old by his arms, being like, ‘You have to stop this. You have to stop screaming. You’ve been looking forward to this all week, and now you’re being such a brat!’”
Syd goes on to say that a three-year-old has no idea the magnitude of Disney World (cost or otherwise) and that their “big feelings” should be validated instead of shamed.
“What do you mean you’re gonna completely ignore the fact that your kid is screaming because he’s having big feelings about something, and you’re not gonna acknowledge the fact that he’s having big feelings at all? You’re just gonna tell him he’s being a brat at Disney World. Three-year-olds do not understand,” they continued.
Syd notes that it’s shocking that parents would have these big reactions to their kids’ big feelings, considering the circumstances, several of them self-inflicted.
“Having a screaming, crying child at 5 p.m. because you didn’t let them have their regular one or two naps that they have every day. That’s your fault as a parent that your kid is screaming and crying, and yet you’re gonna scream at them and tell them that they’re being a brat because they didn’t get their nap that they’re used to. No, they’re not going to tell you that they’re tired because they’re babies and they don’t understand that that’s what’s wrong,” Syd says before noting that Disney World is overstimulating and overwhelming as well as fun and exciting. Both things can be true!
Disney World is overwhelming for adults! How do we expect kids who are off their schedules and hopped up on churros to fare?
“If you didn’t prepare your kid at all, especially — they’re gonna freak out. As a teacher, it’s literally painful sometimes to be near some of these families, watching them parent, because I’m like ‘Oh my god, this poor baby. I just want to give them a hug and be like, ‘It’s okay. We’re safe. We’re at Disney World, and we can take a breath. It’s okay to take a break. Your kid does not need to go, go, go,” they said.
“Your kid does not need to go on every ride. Your kid does not need to meet every character. You’re at Disney World. You’re here to have a good time, and if you’re not pausing to take a deep breath with your child and make sure that they’re having a good time, and instead you’re yelling at them and calling them a brat,” Syd says before noting that if parents cannot keep their sh*t together, freaking out about Lightning Lanes and dining reservcations, the trip isn’t really about the kids at all.
They give tough love and say, “You’re making this trip about you, not about them.”
“The trip is not for the kids, it’s for you as a parent, and that is not good parenting. It doesn’t make you a good parent to just take your kids to Disney and then scream at them while they’re there because they’re being a brat. And there are so many kids here that have been screaming and crying, with their parents yelling at them. Yelling never helps. I can tell you as a fact as a teacher yelling never helps, especially not in Disney World.”
Several commenters on the video agreed with Syd’s take, with one user writing, “THIS!!! They brought little kids to the hottest and most crowded place on earth, and then lose it when they respond in a developmentally appropriate way, or dealing with stress in the exact same way they see their parents doing – throwing a tantrum. My twin sister is a social worker and has a field day when we’re at Disney…”
Another wrote, “I swear teachers are SO much more experienced and knowledgeable about parenting than most parents”
“I worked at WDW a couple of times & the horrible parenting i saw changed my opinion of children (and having children) forever. best birth control eva,” one user joked.
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