With the nicest weather we've had in months, Connor and I have spent most of the last two days at the local park. And I've had some scary revelations.
First, not all parents teach their kids how to play nicely and share. It makes it very hard to teach your child how to behave properly when no one else's child is doing the same.
On Friday, there was a little girl at the park who was maybe 8, who thought it was her job to tell everyone else what they could and could not play with. Problem was, according to her, none of the other kids could play with anything. Her parents never said a word to her, just watched her bully the other kids. I generally do not like to say anything to anyone else's kids, but I had tolerated it long enough and all the other kids were getting upset. So I finally stepped in and told her she had to share. She ran off crying. There were also kids who were waaaaaay too big to be on the playground, jumping off stuff, climbing up the slides and pushing the little kids around. Again, after no parent intervention, I finally told them to knock it off. After about an hour, we gave up and left. Friday was not a fun time at the park.
We tried again today, and had a little better experience. Most of the kids there were playing nicely, and parents were attentive. The thing that literally broke my heart was a boy there, who was maybe 10, named Scott. He started playing with Connor. Connor likes older kids, so he was in heaven to have a new playmate. At about 3 p.m., most of the kids cleared out. But Scott was still there. I finally realized that Scott was there alone. I asked him where his mom was, and he said "I dunno." Asked him if his dad was there, he said no. He then told me he walks to the park just about every day by himself. Now, we don't exactly live in a high crime area, but it's not safe for a 10 year old to walk to a park by himself either. Anything could happen. I felt so bad for this kid. He latched onto us because we paid attention to him. Chances are, he'd have latched on to anyone who paid attention to him, and that's how kids end up hurt. When we left, Scott was heading home, so we watched him. I thought of offering him a ride, but the kid is 10, and I am a stranger, so I thought better of it after common sense kicked in. We did see that he made it home. He lived close, but still.....where are the parents?
My husband often accuses me of crowding our son and being too protective, but I'll take that any day over totally ignoring him.
1 comment:
Often at the park or the mall play place kids just plow over Sam. Luckily he's a pretty tough kid and not much phases him, but bigger kids really should look out. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but the moment I think a kid's not doing what he/she ought to be (whether it's my kid or someone elses - especially if a parent isn't nearby) I'll let them know. Usually other kids are so shocked that I said something to them that they do the right thing.
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