Re: dont you hate it when parents dont tell off their kids who are rude/noisey/naught
^ exactly! its all too easy to pull out the "you have no idea what its like" line... its a lame excuse. of course we don't know, but guess what, we were all kids and we were all disciplined then, and have grown into normal adults, and we've run into well-mannered children too- so why can't you bother teaching your child the right thing?
my 2.5 year old cousin backhanded me right across the face when i told him to behave because he was acting up, and he did it knowing he was going to hit me- it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to being spoken to. that's his response to any sort of discipline, so i smacked the top of his hand and told him to "behave" in a sterner voice. he started wailing but it was all witnessed by his father, my uncle, who told me i'd done the right thing because his son was seriously out of control and he needed to learn. and before i hear complaints from parents, let me be clear: i'm not advocating child abuse, nor do i agree with slapping kids on their faces but a light smack on the hand with your own hand and not with a ruler or a wooden spoon, etc, is a different story.
in my experience, its always been the mothers who have been negligent and the fathers who strive to discipline their kids. i don't think thats fair to the kids- i think they need a consistent approach to discipline from both parents and not the good cop/bad cop routine. in my mind, it just creates fear of one parent, and no fear OR respect for the other who continuously just gives in!