Note: I have previously published this post on The Family Dance.
I'm not usually a Saturday shopper. I prefer to shop on weekday mornings when the grocery aisles are fairly free of shopping cart congestion. On this particular Saturday though, I left the house to pick up some prescriptions at the pharmacy, and then I made a stop at Walmart on my way home. I should have known better than to turn into that crowded parking lot, but the craving for homemade vanilla Blue Bell ice cream had overtaken my common sense.
Maybe it's because I spent years working with children, maybe it's because I'm a mother and a grandmother, or maybe it's just because I like children, but I take notice of children wherever I go, even at a crowded Walmart while shopping.
I couldn't miss the three young ones, all wearing pajama pants, who ran in front of my car before I ever made it into a parking space. They appeared to be in the age range of 8- to 10-years-old. There was no adult anywhere in sight in charge of them, and they were dashing around among the cars. Who did they belong to and why were they wearing their pajama pants in the parking lot at 2:30 in the afternoon?
After parking, I went inside the store for my ice cream, and passed what appeared to be two young sisters with an elderly woman. The girls were looking at a display of stuffed animals at the end of an aisle. The quick conversation I overheard between them told me that they would not be buying stuffed animals today because the woman needed to buy socks for the girls. That sounded very sensible to me, but I wondered who had made the decision to let them spray paint their blonde hair in pink and blue? Was she their grandmother? their great-grandmother? was she raising these two girls on her social security check?
I located the ice cream and made my way to the express check-out aisle, but there was yet another child to notice before I could pay for my purchase. She was standing in another check-out line nearby with a a cell phone to her ear, tears streaming down her face. An adult woman was in front of her in the line, obviously her companion. I could not hear what the child was saying into the phone. She was not crying aloud or making any noise, just silently crying. Who was she speaking to and what news was she receiving? What kind of telephone conversation would a child have in Walmart that would cause her to cry like that? What would the woman say to the child? Would she be comforted or scolded?
Perhaps I worry too much, but these three situations that I encountered in a matter of minutes in a public place are like a snapshot of these children's lives. It's not possible to size up a complete situation on such limited information, but I have worked with children enough to see the red flags waving for each one. As parents, are we giving our children the support, guidance, and direction that they need? In each one of the quick glimpses that I saw, something seemed to be amiss in the life of a child.
The children I saw today wearing the pajama pants, with the pink and blue hair, and with the streaming tears will be the parents of tomorrow. Every child could use a positive role model and a caring example. Will you step up and help change the picture for a child in your life?
After parking, I went inside the store for my ice cream, and passed what appeared to be two young sisters with an elderly woman. The girls were looking at a display of stuffed animals at the end of an aisle. The quick conversation I overheard between them told me that they would not be buying stuffed animals today because the woman needed to buy socks for the girls. That sounded very sensible to me, but I wondered who had made the decision to let them spray paint their blonde hair in pink and blue? Was she their grandmother? their great-grandmother? was she raising these two girls on her social security check?
I located the ice cream and made my way to the express check-out aisle, but there was yet another child to notice before I could pay for my purchase. She was standing in another check-out line nearby with a a cell phone to her ear, tears streaming down her face. An adult woman was in front of her in the line, obviously her companion. I could not hear what the child was saying into the phone. She was not crying aloud or making any noise, just silently crying. Who was she speaking to and what news was she receiving? What kind of telephone conversation would a child have in Walmart that would cause her to cry like that? What would the woman say to the child? Would she be comforted or scolded?
Perhaps I worry too much, but these three situations that I encountered in a matter of minutes in a public place are like a snapshot of these children's lives. It's not possible to size up a complete situation on such limited information, but I have worked with children enough to see the red flags waving for each one. As parents, are we giving our children the support, guidance, and direction that they need? In each one of the quick glimpses that I saw, something seemed to be amiss in the life of a child.
The children I saw today wearing the pajama pants, with the pink and blue hair, and with the streaming tears will be the parents of tomorrow. Every child could use a positive role model and a caring example. Will you step up and help change the picture for a child in your life?
.
Note: I have previously published this post on The Family Dance.
I'm not usually a Saturday shopper. I prefer to shop on weekday mornings when the grocery aisles are fairly free of shopping cart congestion. On this particular Saturday though, I left the house to pick up some prescriptions at the pharmacy, and then I made a stop at Walmart on my way home. I should have known better than to turn into that crowded parking lot, but the craving for homemade vanilla Blue Bell ice cream had overtaken my common sense.
Maybe it's because I spent years working with children, maybe it's because I'm a mother and a grandmother, or maybe it's just because I like children, but I take notice of children wherever I go, even at a crowded Walmart while shopping.
I couldn't miss the three young ones, all wearing pajama pants, who ran in front of my car before I ever made it into a parking space. They appeared to be in the age range of 8- to 10-years-old. There was no adult anywhere in sight in charge of them, and they were dashing around among the cars. Who did they belong to and why were they wearing their pajama pants in the parking lot at 2:30 in the afternoon?
After parking, I went inside the store for my ice cream, and passed what appeared to be two young sisters with an elderly woman. The girls were looking at a display of stuffed animals at the end of an aisle. The quick conversation I overheard between them told me that they would not be buying stuffed animals today because the woman needed to buy socks for the girls. That sounded very sensible to me, but I wondered who had made the decision to let them spray paint their blonde hair in pink and blue? Was she their grandmother? their great-grandmother? was she raising these two girls on her social security check?
I located the ice cream and made my way to the express check-out aisle, but there was yet another child to notice before I could pay for my purchase. She was standing in another check-out line nearby with a a cell phone to her ear, tears streaming down her face. An adult woman was in front of her in the line, obviously her companion. I could not hear what the child was saying into the phone. She was not crying aloud or making any noise, just silently crying. Who was she speaking to and what news was she receiving? What kind of telephone conversation would a child have in Walmart that would cause her to cry like that? What would the woman say to the child? Would she be comforted or scolded?
Perhaps I worry too much, but these three situations that I encountered in a matter of minutes in a public place are like a snapshot of these children's lives. It's not possible to size up a complete situation on such limited information, but I have worked with children enough to see the red flags waving for each one. As parents, are we giving our children the support, guidance, and direction that they need? In each one of the quick glimpses that I saw, something seemed to be amiss in the life of a child.
The children I saw today wearing the pajama pants, with the pink and blue hair, and with the streaming tears will be the parents of tomorrow. Every child could use a positive role model and a caring example. Will you step up and help change the picture for a child in your life?
After parking, I went inside the store for my ice cream, and passed what appeared to be two young sisters with an elderly woman. The girls were looking at a display of stuffed animals at the end of an aisle. The quick conversation I overheard between them told me that they would not be buying stuffed animals today because the woman needed to buy socks for the girls. That sounded very sensible to me, but I wondered who had made the decision to let them spray paint their blonde hair in pink and blue? Was she their grandmother? their great-grandmother? was she raising these two girls on her social security check?
I located the ice cream and made my way to the express check-out aisle, but there was yet another child to notice before I could pay for my purchase. She was standing in another check-out line nearby with a a cell phone to her ear, tears streaming down her face. An adult woman was in front of her in the line, obviously her companion. I could not hear what the child was saying into the phone. She was not crying aloud or making any noise, just silently crying. Who was she speaking to and what news was she receiving? What kind of telephone conversation would a child have in Walmart that would cause her to cry like that? What would the woman say to the child? Would she be comforted or scolded?
Perhaps I worry too much, but these three situations that I encountered in a matter of minutes in a public place are like a snapshot of these children's lives. It's not possible to size up a complete situation on such limited information, but I have worked with children enough to see the red flags waving for each one. As parents, are we giving our children the support, guidance, and direction that they need? In each one of the quick glimpses that I saw, something seemed to be amiss in the life of a child.
The children I saw today wearing the pajama pants, with the pink and blue hair, and with the streaming tears will be the parents of tomorrow. Every child could use a positive role model and a caring example. Will you step up and help change the picture for a child in your life?
.
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