Since the weather has been absolutely lovely lately, my Little Lovebug and I have been making daily rounds at our gorgeous local park. I bring my "park bag" filled with all sorts of fun outdoorsy items, like chalk, bubbles, balls, wipes (for when his hands turn black from crawling up the slide one hundred times... My Little Lovebug immensely enjoys his time, but there's a pattern I started noticing...so many kids...but, where are the parents?
Oh, sure - there they are...on the park bench, on their phones, chatting with the other parents, daydreaming their sweet, outer spacey dreams.
Well, here's something you may not know about me. My day teaching other people's children (with the exception of my dear friend's children) ends at 3:10 PM from M-F. I am not a nice parent at the park. I'm there to play with my son, who I haven't seen all day. I'm there to teach him how to act, to watch him to make sure he doesn't get hurt or have any problems with other children. At the same time, I am not a "hover-parent." I give him space and observe while he interacts with others and explores on his own. My eyes never leave him though. I love watching my Little Lovebug play, and here's the thing: I DO NOT WANT TO WATCH YOUR CHILD TOO!!!
Lately, I feel that is becoming more and more of a problem for me. Am I wearing a magnet? A "I'm a teacher, so please feel free to attach yourself to my hip and follow me and my child around incessantly" button? Because they seem to on a daily basis.
I had a little girl, maybe around 4 or so start following me around. Sooo annoying. Telling me what my Little Lovebug was and wasn't allowed to do in the park. Like a dog trying to get with my leg. No matter where I moved to - she followed. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Where are your parents?" I asked. She shrugged and continued her checklist of things my son couldn't do. "Whose child is this?" I asked loudly. No one came forward. Eventually, she gave up and walked away. I still to this day don't know where her parents her or if she was a straggly orphan child. In that case, I would have been more pitiful.
Another child comes up to me today and begs to have some chalk. Of course I don't mind - I have a bucket of like 50 pieces. But, no one seemed to be watching her. No one! I looked around and around and asked her how old she was, and where her parents were. She answered "4" and shrugged, respectively, and continued writing the ABC's in pink chalk on the pavement.
Where's the parent of the child who grabbed my child's ball? Where's the parent of the child who almost pushed my child down the rock climbing wall? Where's the parent of the child at the local daycare who wasn't watching as their child "escaped" and the police had to be called and found him a block away?
Here's another thing, I'm almost shameful to admit. My Little Lovebug has become somewhat of a hitter. It's a problem that we're working on with consistency and he absolutely knows that it is wrong (but does it anyway). He smacks a little boy in the face at the park the other day, totally unprovoked. So, the kid hit him back. My Little Lovebug kind of deserved it...but, I scolded both of them anyway. You guessed it - where was this kids parents? Weren't they at all concerned my son hit their child? Weren't they watching him? Why did I have to scold the other kid too? Isn't parenting my own child enough?
My parenting advice to parents? Keep an eye on your child. Maybe I'll get that as a button. Thanks to Cafe Press - I could!:
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