Re: whats with irresponsible parents of a 2-3 yr old???
I think it's even worse than irresponsibility. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher and from conversations with her I've come to the conclusion that a lot of these parents today don't have the instincts built-in naturally, that most of acquired. I know there's no "service manual" when it comes to children, but for eons, logic has derived from instinct in making choices involving our children. If that foundation isn't there, you end up with situations (and much worse) like letting a 2 year old play on the top step of 2 flights of stairs or ride without a child seat. In an attempt at appeasement, they have no idea they're endangering their kids and most would be distraught if something horrible resulted from their choices, but I'mnot so 100% sure they'd ever realize that it was, in fact, their own fault.
We're developing a world that's all about "me" and "where's mine" and that's just not conducive to proper caring for others, to include our own children. At the risk of sounding like my father (who, by the way gets smarter every year), I worry about what is to come.