Good Reads Library
Hold Their Tiny Hands
If you are a parent, there is nothing in your life more precious to you than your children.
You agonize over buying the right foods, the right toys.
You pore over articles in parenting magazines and read parenting books.
You try to shelter your children from all the harms of the world.
So why do so many parents do so many stupid, careless things?
Last week I read this article in the Washington Post. It's about a 16 month old boy killed when his father ran him over with his car. He was parking the car, the boy's mother and her friend were busy unloading something and the child "wandered away".
WANDERED AWAY?
What the hell was a 16 month old doing LOOSE in a garage?
This is an extreme, of course. But the fact is, I see parents at the library, on the street, in the supermarket, the mall, doing things that endanger their kids and/or other peoples kids!
Moms, dads, I know you love your kids. I know you want to keep them safe.
HOLD THEIR HANDS, or keep them in the sling or the stroller.
Buckle up those car seats. Keep the bigger kids buckled and sitting. Yes, I know Mom held you in her lap in that old station wagon--and when you were bigger you kids rattled around belt free. You were lucky nothing happened. And even if you're in that big safe car with all the airbags, you're still no match for an 18 wheeler--or a patch of ice.
Keep them in the SEAT in the shopping cart--and buckle that belt too.
Make the bigger ones hold your hand when crossing streets and when you're in parking lots.
Don't let them wander in public places. Do you know what sort of weirdos I've seen in EVERY public library I've ever worked in--urban or suburban?
Yes, I know they'll wail and wimper. Yes, you may have to wrestle that kid into the car seat every time. Yes, it's a pain in the ass.
Get over it. Being a parent is a pain in the ass and it's going to interfere with your good times. Haven't you figured that out by now?
Hold their hand. And ignore the whining. You're the parent. Your job is to keep them safe, not be their bestest friend in the whole wide world.
Remember that 16 month old boy. Hug your children and be glad they're with you.
And keep them safe.
