Jimmy Kimmel issued a challenge to viewers: to videotape your children's reaction when telling them that you ate all their Halloween candy. Many parents did.
Am I the only one who doesn't find it funny? Sure, it's not tragic, but is it really funny? Making your children cry on purpose and then carry on even when you see how upset they are? Really? Really?
It looks silly to us, but children don't own anything other than their toys, clothes and candy - something that is just theirs. So obviously they'll be upset after finding out that the candy they worked hard to collect after looking forward to Halloween all year is suddenly gone. It's the same as a teenager telling his parents as a joke that he totalled the family car on a night out. For a child a bag of Halloween candy is as important as a car. Was this some kind of experiment? Did the parents really expect the kids to be anything other than upset and sad?
Jimmy Kimmel is a dickhead, but the parents who participated are even bigger dickheads. Make your kid cry in order to get some giggles out of strangers. Fantastic. Teach your children that it's OK to tell upsetting lies and make people cry for a cheap laugh.
Blake is three and a half and he cries. It comes with the territory. Sometimes I try comforting him and sometimes I let him cry depending on the situation. I never deliberately try to make him cry for my own entertainment.
Next week the challenge should be videotaping your children's reaction when you tell them the family dog died! That would be hilarious! Maybe tell them grandma went to heaven! The possibilities are endless.
I just don't get it, but I guess I'm a stick in the mud.