I was reminded about something when I read a Newsweek or somesuch magazine the other day and there was an essay about Columbine 10 years later. I can't believe it was 10 years ago! When I was in CO we went to the house of a friend of my friend for dinner, and actually drove by Columbine HS. Seemed so normal, yet not.
When skiing one day I was alone for a little while. The slopes were not busy at all, and I ended up skiing up to the lift behind two really young boys. Maybe 7 and 6. The younger/smaller was definitely a younger brother type, and was chattering. Well, the older one didn't wait for the younger one and got on a lift by himself, leaving the younger to wait behind. Amazing. I rode up with the younger one, and he was not upset at all - he just yelled to the kid in the lift ahead to wait for him at the top. I know the older one did it on purpose because I saw his face at the top, and I came very close to cussing him out for not having the decency and manners to wait.
Now, I'm not always so restrained. When I lived at home after graduate school, I went to visit a friend. As I was walking up to his house, I noticed a young crossing guard stepping out into the street and pretending like there was someone who needed to cross, just to stop traffic. I walked by, and then said to myself that I couldn't walk by. I went back to the kid and told him I saw what he'd been doing and if he continued I would call the police. There was a woman standing nearby, and it just so happened to be his mother, so he was in deep shit. Community parenting? Nosy me? Whichever-he stopped doing it.
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3 comments:
Kids, yeah. They can be little bundles of joy, for sure. I don't ever mind other people watching out for mine.
Hilary Clinton wrote a book claiming it takes a village to raise a child.
Good for you. I think most kids like to test any power they can find. You just did your job, by showing him what his boundaries were.
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