Whoa...Ouch...Alec Baldwin

[weaktwos]

MSNBC is reporting that Alec Baldwin lost some custody opportunities with his daughter since he left an angry voicemail on his 11 year old daughter's phone.

First of all, it's rather humorous that he says, "...you have insulted me for the last time." Of course, he was so very wrong, because Kim Basinger made it public.

So, what do you think, gentle reader? I'm thinking that everyone's parent has lost it on occasion. I shutter to think how all parents if all their comments were recorded. In this case, we get one angry phone call. I mean, hasn't everyone's parent blown their stack at least once when the child is being disrespectful and/or mean?

It's a shame that it was made public like this. If Baldwin has a trend of being a lousy parent, that's for the courts to decide. Playing this out in the public eye seems quite petty.


So, parents: don't leave angry tirades on voicemail, okay?

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Alas, everything with celebrities is a public spectacle. I wouldn't blame Basinger for pursuing it in court if she truly felt her child's mental/physical well-being was at risk, and would think less of her for shrinking from advocating for her child because of fear of what people will think of her when it inevitably becomes public. The sleaze that constitutes "celebrity press" in L.A. can get their hands on even sealed court records by passing the green to an underpaid clerk any day. That said. If Basinger really did leak it, it's despicable.

However. Reading what Baldwin said makes my mommablood curdle. One of the strictest rules of being divorced co-parents is that you never, ever tear down the ex in front of the child. That's one of the surest ways to screw up their heads. Even worse...

"You don't have the brains or the decency of a human being," "rude, thoughtless little pig," etc. That's not a parent losing their cool. That's emotional abuse. I don't care how angry you get - and I have gotten very angry on occasion - there are lines, and a loving parent does not cross them.

I have, on occasion, yelled at the Kiddo how "I have had it" with him ignoring me when I tell him to get ready for school. Taken out of context, it could sound awful. But calling him those kind of names? In addition, the priority of family court isn't his rights or the mother's, but the child's. No matter how obnoxious she is as a tween, no child deserves verbal or physical abuse. That's the sort of thing that puts an emotional scar on a child that just doesn't go away.

You get mad. You lose your cool. You need to go count to ten before you can speak. It happens rather regularly in high-stress situations like theirs, I imagine. But there's a mental fail-safe that kicks in to keep you from saying or doing anything really harmful, emotionally or physically. If that fail-safe isn't working, then limiting contact is appropriate and probably vital.

Methinks Mr. Baldwin needs anger management counseling, parenting classes, and both parents need to be slapped silly with a fish and sent to family mediation.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

Yes, but what kind of fish?

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

You said it better than I.

I've known some really nasty 12-year-olds. We have no idea if Ireland Baldwin could even approach that categorization. However, saying hateful and mean things to a kid is not going to improve their behavior. I've heard the whole message now, and there was nothing the least bit constructive in what he said. However, there was a lot of implied abuse in what he said.

As far as his message getting out, I've always said that if you say something, you'd better be ready for the people you want to hear it the least to be the first to hear it. And that pretty much happens. As far as it hurting Ireland if it goes public...well, I can imagine 90 percent of the hurt in this case happened when she heard it on her voice mail.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've known some pretty nasty 12 year olds, too. There's no excuse for his behavior. It was wrong. However, it was human. I suppose it doesn't seem so foreign to me because I had a crazy grandmother who verbally abused my mother and then some of that naturally filtered down to me. People have their weak spots, and not everyone can be June Cleaver 24/7.

Hopefully he'll not make a habit of this, still, I don't think it should have been played out in public, despite the fact that it was totally instant karma.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

A loving parent makes mistakes. Loving parents aren't always perfect. Given the rampant dysfunction in this nation, there's a time when some parents go apeshit and say some hurtful things. Hopefully this episode is rare. And if he has any decency, he's going to remember this and regret it forever.

The whole lot of 'em need counselling. I don't think Ireland needs friends at any child play groups to know that her father is an asshole, etc. Hell, probably the publicity of the divorce has already had a nasty effect on her, let alone her father going bonkers.