A man from the US who bragged about his parenthood aptitudes after describing his nine-year-old daughter to open a tin can of beans or go hunger has provoked an uproar on social media. The starving child tried to open the can after six hours and was eventually permitted to eat. John Roderick, a podcaster and musician, in a now-deleted Twitter remark conveyed his tale of “good parenting”.
“So, yesterday my daughter (9) was hungry and I was doing a jigsaw puzzle so I said over my shoulder ‘make some baked beans.’ She said, ‘How?’ like all kids do when they want YOU to do it, so I said, ‘Open a can and put it in the pot.’ She brought me the can and said ‘Open it how? With a can opener!’ I said, incredulous. She brought me the can opener and we both stared at it. I realized I’d never taught her to use it. Most cans now have pull-tops. I felt like a dope.”
When she said she didn’t know how to use the opener, he said he realized “a teaching moment just dropped into my lap”. Rather than instructing her how to operate the can opener, he told her to find it out herself.” he said, ‘this little device is designed to do one thing: open cans. Learn the parts, study the can, figure out what the can-opener inventor was assuming when they tried to solve the problem,'” Roderick tweeted. He went back to his puzzle while the poor child starved and moaned.” Eventually she collapsed in a frustrated heap,” he said, but he went on to ask her to define the parts.
She explained what the wheel and gears do and told him, “I hate you.”He commented, “You understand everything except how the tool manages the can.”Roderick wrote, “At this point, she said, “I don’t want baked beans” and strode off. Apocalypse Dad went into full “The Road” Mode! “Sweetheart, neither of us will eat another bite today until we get into this can of beans.” She screamed “AUGH!” like Lucy Van Pelt. She read a book for a while.”
The Bean Dad story is ridiculous. He should have just FED her, and THEN showed her how to use a damn can opener instead of leaving her hungry for six hours. That's abusive.
She's 9 years old, and some of us don't learn very well when we're hungry, regardless of age. Jeez.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!?? (@mmpadellan) January 3, 2021
Once she was calm, she got back to the can. This time, he didn’t offer any more guidance. He helped her work on “anger management and perseverance” instead. At one point, the little girl suggested opening the can with a hammer. Whenever she yelled at him, “My brain is fuzzy! I can’t think of anything else to try!!!”, he’d say, “When your brain doesn’t work, trust your hands.”
Roderick said, “I’d been tempted many times along the way to guide her hand. I wanted her to experience the magnificence of the can opener SO MUCH I couldn’t stand the suspense. Neither of us likes baked beans that much finally worked to open the can after six hours of attempting without assistance. He stated that she was “rightfully proud” and he was scornful of her too.
Roderick’s Twitter post went viral with cybernauts dubbing it an instance of poor parenting. Many anointed him as ‘Bean Dad’.One user wrote, “Kids learn best when they aren’t hungry. Everyone understands differently and various strategies(eg. A guiding hand) are generous, particularly if/when someone’s toiling. When a child is frustrated to the point of tears, you’ve lost your teachable moment.”
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