There’s a difference between a child being annoying because they’re being a child—and a child being genuinely unpleasant to be around.Sometimes it’s normal childhood curiosity that gets under your skin and forces you to ask, Is this actually about the kid, or is this about me? Sometimes it’s a child’s personality, demeanor, speech, or habits that simply rub you the wrong way. And sometimes the behavior goes beyond “annoying” into rude, entitled, disrespectful, or consistently inappropriate.Then there are the parents.You can genuinely like a child’s parent while not particularly enjoying their child. You can dislike both. You can find the parent a little quirky or disagree with their parenting choices while still enjoying their company. And sometimes you can see the connection between the parent and child so clearly that you realize: Oh. This behavior isn’t going away because it’s being reinforced at home.In this episode, I’m getting honest about something we’re probably not supposed to say out loud: I don’t like every child I meet. And I’m exploring why that’s different from mistreating children, why respectful correction from trusted adults matters, what happens when parents constantly rescue their children from social consequences, and why this matters even more when your own kids are absorbing other children’s behavior like little sponges.And then there’s the humbling realization: I’ve been that child. I’ve been the parent watching my own child’s behavior through another adult’s eyes. And I can recognize the look on another parent’s face because I’ve seen it on mine.

Not Every Child Is Your Favorite: The Complicated Truth About Other People’s Kids

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