Exhibit A

I was at a bookstore once, and I came across this. I'm sure many of you have seen it before. For those of you who haven't, it's basically what it says it is: a collection of family photos that are a bit...awkward. Some of them are so weird, they actually make you squirm with their awkwardness.  Many of them are photos that have you shaking your head, saying to yourself, "what were they thinking?"

The first time I opened this book, I laughed at a lot of the photographs. (Honestly, some of them are hysterical.) But then I turned to this little gem. It didn't make me laugh. Not at all. I looked at it. I read the caption. I let the situation sink in. And then I got angry. Really, REALLY angry. I cannot believe these parents.

You'll have to excuse the poor quality of the photo. I took a picture of the picture in the book. What you're seeing is a child getting sick into a bag while her parents stand by, smiling at the camera, oblivious to the fact that there is anything wrong with this picture. What you're seeing is sibling abuse. 

I could fill you in on the backstory myself, but I think I'll let the mother do the talking. In her words: My youngest daughter doesn't fare so well with long airplane rides. One year, we traveled to Paris on Christmas Day, and visited the Eiffel Tower. Once we got down, between the cold and the fact that we'd just gotten off of the plane, my daughter had to vomit. My older daughter thought it was funny, so she decided to take the picture while her sister was getting sick. And my husband and I just decided, oh well, we might as well smile! 

Where do I start? How can parents think this is in any way acceptable? How would you feel if your daughter was taking a picture of you getting sick? How would your older daughter feel if it was her sister taking a picture of her getting sick? And what's more, why did you get this PUBLISHED?! I have one question for you parents: What were you thinking?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!

I know there's not a lot of awareness about sibling abuse. That's my purpose in writing this blog. I want to help parents understand when they're dealing with an abusive situation. But do I REALLY need to sit here and explain that a child should not be allowed to humiliate their sibling? Isn't that Human Empathy 101? This is the type of idiocy I'm talking about, folks. This is the type of clear-cut emotional abuse that could never be explained away as "sibling rivalry" that parents still manage to ignore.

What really grates at me is the mother's attitude about it all. It's like she claims to have no power or responsibility in the situation. It's like she doesn't understand that she is THE MOM and is therefore in charge of guiding her children to act properly. Here's a thought: Tell your daughter NO. No, she may not take a picture of her sister getting sick. And if she does, she's grounded, and you're taking her camera away for the rest of the trip (as well as destroying the photo). 

But the sinking feeling I get is that the parents just don't care. My older daughter thought it was funny... she writes. Maybe the parents thought it was funny, too. 

Well, idiot parents, I've got news for you. The joke's on you now. You are Exhibit A of parental irresponsibility on a blog for preventing sibling abuse. In being placed on my blog, I have put you on an Internet Wall of Shame. I have slapped you with the label of "Bad Parents." It is your turn to bask in the humiliation you have so casually inflicted on your daughter. Who's laughing now?