I once saw a Mom at an information desk at an art museum take her fussy, fidgeting toddler, gently lay him down on the ground, and put her foot on him, Captain Morgan style:

Kid didn’t cry or try to escape. Thoroughly impressive. Might plant the seed to awaken something in the kid when he hits puberty, though.
Kid heard the phrase “step on me mommy” and asked his mom what it meant, the mom pondered how to answer.
I appreciate the helpful diagram
Not funny and fuck you (not OP, the poster of the tweet).
Be civil
Ok I was of this opinion until I had an autistic son. He’s crafty, fast and enjoys doing whatever he is told not to do. He’s almost run into traffic several times. We caught him, but barely, enough to make me reconsider this idea. I haven’t bought him one, but I understand.

That tweet is so old that the kid is a teenager now
Tell me you’ve never been a parent without using the words. One of my kids was a runner and could yank their elbow or shoulder out of place of you tried to hold on to them by their hand. A harness and leash made life bearable for all of us for that time period.
We used a leash on our youngest for a few years in crowds. Never will be sorry for it. It gave him the sense of autonomy while keeping him directed, where holding his hand would quickly lead to problems. This was before the better understanding of ADHD, we were told by older adults (who were always critical of how we parented) that he’d “grow out of it”. It gave us all peace and kept him safe.
Fuck no, im a pro leash parent.
as an ex-leash autistic, I would have definitely run into traffic or just straight up disappeared had I not been
Haha, I was definitely leashed as a child, and I know why. I was a bolter, my child was also a bolter.
Her answer should have been “yes”.
I believe that as long as the best behaved dog is required to be leashed in public, children under 5 should be required to be leashed as well, until the worst behaved toddler is demonstrably better behaved than the best behaved dog.
Leashing a kid doesn’t hurt them, and people who have a problem with it are generally real assholes…
That’s pretty extreme, I think it’s the parent’s responsibility to make sure the kid isn’t a nuisance to others, but whether they require a leash to achieve that is their business (for what it’s worth, I also think a well behaved dog that isn’t causing any troubles shouldn’t require the leash). We tend to either remove ourselves from the situation if the little goblin starts making a fuss, or otherwise use carrying options (on the shoulders, in a back carrier, or, less and less so, in a buggy).
Quite often it’s done because the child is autistic or similar and there are flight or escape issues.
A while back I was driving on a gravel road just outside town and came across a lady going for a walk with a kid and a large dog. The kid was on a leash, the dog was running free.
I giggled about that for the rest of the day.
I’ve watched kids bolt. Some of you need to touch grass and interact with your neighbors.
My mother leashed me and twin if she had us solo. Which is like. Fair? How you going to deal with two little runners by yourself?
Mother hated doing it though cause other people in the late 80s were so fucking judgemental about it.
Of all the shit in my childhood, being on a leash did not affect me. So leash then kiddies up.
She was realized she put the dog on a bus to school.
Or maybe you’re just an asshole.
I only didn’t use a leash because the one time I did the kid spun around and tried to strangle themselves on it. Not from being upset, just everyday normal accidentally-suicidal toddler behavior. Had I been that mom I’d have laughed. Hysterically, with an edge veering into insanity, because that’s what it’s like sometimes, with the infant and toddler tagteaming to keep you up all night and stressed all day. But a good joke is a good joke.
Thankfully my kids survived to adulthood.








