There is an epidemic in my neighborhood. No, it's not the swine flu, but it has the potential to be just as, if not more, deadly. It is that of the unsupervised child. Typically, these families also have unsupervised pets, but that's a whole different blog. I don't understand the frightening trend of parents letting their small child (I'm talking under 4 years old in some cases) play in the street unsupervised.
I almost ran over my neighbor's barely 4-year-old son the other day while I was pulling into my driveway. Earlier in the year, I literally saved his 5-year-old brother's life by pulling him out of the way of a speeding car on our street. When I told him that he could have gotten killed by not looking before he ran across the street, he laughed at me and said, "Well, I did it, didn't I?" Flabbergasted is the only word to describe my reaction to that defiantly bold statement. Where his parents? I can tell you one place they weren't.
One of the more terrifying episodes was when my husband pulled his SUV into our driveway after a family outing. The kids and I got out and found another neighbor's 5-year-old son lying underneath the vehicle. If my husband had proceeded to pull the vehicle into the garage as he usually does, he would have most certainly run him over, possibly killing him. We held a "come to Jesus" meeting right then and there with the little bugger and then my husband took him across the street and had a similar meeting with his parents. The next day he was playing in the street, alone, again.
Another not-quite-so-frightening but nonetheless annoying occurrence was the time that a kid was going around the neighborhood pool shooting everyone in the eyes with a water gun (and not the wimpy 4-inch pistols you and I grew up with). Granted, I have 2 boys and I know that they need to let loose and run around like maniacs every now and then, but come on. The mom was sitting on the side of the pool with me, completely oblivious to what her son was doing. I told him very nicely (several times) that he needed to stop shooting above the neck, but he persisted. Still, no reaction or correction from the mom. I repeated myself in a more serious, grown-up tone of voice, which got the attention of his mom, who succinctly told me that I had no business telling her son what to do.
All I can say is.....supervise your kid or I will.
Wow. I did not know stuff like that happpened in the burbs. If something like that occured in my neighborhood, first we would be cursed out by the kid, then the kids mother and finally the male family representative. Add a few curse words and, the whole neighborhood knows about it. If I am lucky, I might be able to walk down the street the next day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing this out.
I miss living up North - you do a little swearing and it's all over! It's much more passive aggressive down here (think Steel Magnolias). By the way, I almost ran over the younger brother of the kid I "saved" today coming home from work - he was riding his tricyle in the middle of the street - no parents in sight.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are constantly blown away by what kids get away with in public...say, a restaurant or a mall. It is nothing short of amazing how oblivious some parents are to how their child's actions affect the public at large. Look, there's plenty of mercy for the crying baby on the airplane and situations that cannot be controlled. What is sobering and scary is the kids who have not been taught any sense of boundaries, both on a physically safe standpoint and in the etiquette variety. We're growing a new breed of kids who believe themselves to be invincible from injury and exempt from punishment. Parents would do well to stop trying to be their kid's "BFF" and stick to being the adult caretaker and authority in these young lives. OK, rant over.
ReplyDelete"Look both ways before you cross the road." As a child I took that lessen and am still using it in every critical decision making moment I'm in. It seems to take catastrophy to wake some people up. And then those "Shouldn't be parents" seem to forget about bad events. I see it as a lack of imagination. When I was a kid I imagined as many potentially bad things that could happen as I did fantastic unrealistic things. You have to be around your kids to teach them things. Imagine that!
ReplyDeleteNovel thoughts, right? lol As a parent, I strive for a happy medium of protecting my kid but not being too overprotective that they become phobically fearful. The bottom line is....you don't get another chance with your kids. All it takes is one accident.
ReplyDeleteIt is most unfortunate when that accident involves a distracted person who's driving home from work.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I wasn't having an ADD moment at the time...
ReplyDelete