So many parents seem to be completely self-centered when it comes to their kids. Fully capable of recognising emotions (and emotional consequences to their actionw) and stuff in other people, but not even aware their children is even capable of responding emotionally - especially in a negative way. I'm thinking it has to do with them taking the kids way to much for granted, combined with a feeling of pack!mentality "superiority".
..God, I hope I never grow old to be like that. In any way.
Some things are inexcusable, but I think every parent finds themselves disproportionately nasty to their kids once in a while in ways they later regret. I know I do.
It has to do with the pressures that parenting puts on a person. Being a parent makes you really busy, while also facing you with decisions that require careful case-by-case consideration. You often don't have the time necessary to consider your reactions carefully. It can be frightfully easy to develop bad habits to react harshly, partially just to get control of your kid in the moment quickly and efficiently, even though this is probably harmful in the long run.
This past week is a good example for me. Everybody except me got sick, and my wife has a really weak/acidic stomach. Any obrupt movement, bad smells, loud noises (due to headache), etc would make her throw up. Plus two hospital trips. So I had to be really strict with the kid's behavior for a few days, at a time when they weren't feeling well and thus more likely to act out. Towards the end of it, I found myself snapping at them at times when it wasn't necessary. It wasn't because of stress so much as I'd already developed a habit of quick, harsh reactions.
This doesn't really say anything in defense of duke's parents... just saying... parenting is complex and difficult... a good parent should recognize when they've been harmful, though, and find ways to make it up... though even that can be difficult to do without undermining one's own authority.