When your child is friend with the Devil Child

[Anonymous]

If this kid really is the devil child, I don't see why you can't take it up with the Dark Lord himself.

[Anonymous]

I babysat a lot of devil kids when I was younger. I think the thiing they all had in common was that they were allowed to eat any old junk they wanted and they were allowed to talk to their parents like they were dogs.

[Anonymous]

Paging Damian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it's true! The same issue gets 2 wildly different perspectives depending on which group of parents is interviewed. Here, in Off Topic, it is acceptable to talk about -- especially -- the effect this child is having on **other children.** It is O.K. to come up with strategies to avoid this child so that your own kids aren't hit and made upset.

In Special Needs, with the same facts at hand, you would not be permitted to say that you wish your child didn't have to be around such behavior.

Ok. you're an asshole. Not Special Needs. Just a pure, unreconstructed , boorish asshole.

[Anonymous]

Watch "The Bad Seed" with your child.

[Anonymous]

The Problem Children I babysat were all breastfed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to baby sit a "devil child" when I was in high school (only did it a couple of times. . .) and her parents knew it because they were paying 5x as much as everyone else. This girl, who was 5, used to to things like: taker her mini Schnauzer and toss him in the icey cold, Montana lake, dump said icey cold Montana lake water down my back when I was fully clothed, throw rocks at me and the dog, threw tantrums when other kids in the neighborhood didn't want to play with her (gee, I wonder why), break things that belonged to neighborhood kids, abuse neighborhood pets, etc. etc. How does a five year old become this way??

Did you ever follow up on her? Is she in prison now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh, there are not the same set of facts, assuming the aforementioned Devil Child is not also a SN child. In the past week alone several mothers of SN children over on the SN forum have noted they wish their children did not disturb other NT students. You are not only painting with a broad brush, you are asserting inaccuracies. And guess what. My child's instruction was disrupted by a SN student one year, but the experience taught him tolerance and made my child a better person.

SN mom here. My son was a devil child when he was 2. He wasn't in school but it was living hell on the playground with him. I had to be on him at all times because he was known to throw kids off the motorcycle he obsessed over. (it HAD to be the SAME one at all times, can you guess his diagnosis?) I know the nannies and fellow SAHMs hated us. But I was told he needed social interaction, so I did all that was humanly possible. After a while the nannies and moms knew what to expect and I was grateful when they just gently steered their kids away from the obsessed over motorcycle. (which I secretly wanted to burn because it caused so much trouble)

Fast forward 3 years and tons of intervention my child is mainstreamed and will remind "your" children of the rules because he is big on rules. The nannies still remember him but will now encourage their children to be around him, which makes me so happy.
I can honestly say that all the SN moms I know who have children with behavioral issues are well aware and desperately want their children to be nice. I don't know a single mom who uses it as an "excuse" but rather as an explanation. And it does hurt when you know that people don't want their children around your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think its weird that as an adult you are addressing a child as "Devil Child" - you sound like a bully yourself!

OP admittedly derived this term in reference to their own potential child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Problem Children I babysat were all breastfed.

The Devil Child I babysat got 8 oz of pumped breastmilk at each feeding.

[Anonymous]

While some kids are SN (let's not get totally off topic here); believe it or not, it is also true that some parents are LAZY. Sorry, but it is true. Statistically, there could not possibly be as many SN children as some parents try to claim. Flame away.

Just curious, if your child is SN, wouldn't you come forward and say so, to at least garner sympathy in place of avoidance (or worse)? I would think your position would be better if you came out and said so. Otherwise, wouldn't parents and children tend to run the other way?

[Anonymous]

I am the PP with the SN kid. I told parents and nannies once we actually had a diagnosis. Prior to that I explained that we were seeking help.

I think it's only fair to let others know, especially if the SN's behavior could be disruptive or dangerous to others.

I agree with you there are parents who do not take the time and effort to show their kids boundaries.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My child is 6, so thank you for the good advice. I am really trying to figure out the right thing to do. I appreciated the angle of the other parent who did not see it productive to tell her child to not play with the "devil child". I was also concerned of undesired results of telling my child to stay away from this other child, so I wanted to hear how others have dealt with this productively. For those who asked, I learned of these issues by speaking to my child, observing the other child's behavior at school and recreational events, and other parents similar observations. There have also been a few times where this child has come over to our home or run into us locally, and the child would do the bad things right in front of me as if I were not there. By bad things, I mean blatantly coach my child to be dishonest or coach my child to be mean. I also regularly hear about how this child tells on other kids constantly over rather banal issues. From hearing from my child and other parents, this child has a way of acting nice to lure friends in and once the fiend is lured in, the "abuse" begins. So far, I think that other parents who know of this child have made a similar assessment. I also think that while the term "devil child" is somewhat facetious, it is a term I have heard for many, many years and is accurate for describing the issue and getting the point across. It is good to hear the many ways reasonable parents are addressing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to baby sit a "devil child" when I was in high school (only did it a couple of times. . .) and her parents knew it because they were paying 5x as much as everyone else. This girl, who was 5, used to to things like: taker her mini Schnauzer and toss him in the icey cold, Montana lake, dump said icey cold Montana lake water down my back when I was fully clothed, throw rocks at me and the dog, threw tantrums when other kids in the neighborhood didn't want to play with her (gee, I wonder why), break things that belonged to neighborhood kids, abuse neighborhood pets, etc. etc. How does a five year old become this way??

This also reminds me of a kid I used to babysit. She would throw her dog down the stairs. Really crazy stuff. Her parent were divorced and her mom worked full time and had a boyfriend. While not all kids dealing with these factors have issues of this kind, I do believe (now that I look back on it), that these were factors in this child's behavior. Now I wonder what happened to her! She is probably about 34 or 35 now!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this kid really is the devil child, I don't see why you can't take it up with the Dark Lord himself.

Thanks!