03 October, 2007

Chil'uns

I was in Boston for the last couple days learning all about passwords and how to keep them happily humming along quietly in the background. One does not want to think about passwords, and one definitely does not want the CIO to be thinking about them. It was a very good couple days that way, and I even met a couple fun people. All was good.

It was not until riding the last shuttle to my car that I wanted to strangle my first people. The parents of some poor, cute little munchkin were training him on how to sit on a bus. They figured he should sit with them, straight, and facing the center. All in all it was not a bad plan, but the child wanted to sit away from them, one his knees, facing the window. This was also not a bad plan. The problem, of course, was the little disagreement between the parents and the central authority of the family.

Eventually, the parents came to see the light, and the kid watched the scenery go by very happily.

Here's the deal. I think your kid is cute. Your kid is not bothering me. I could listen to children giggle, bicker, explore, query, and cry all day. It's all cute to me and I love being around children of all ages. The little newborn I sat beside on the way to Boston was darling (It never hurts to be reminded how endlessly fascinating pint-sized people find their mother's eyes). The grade school dynamo who whiled away two hours playing some probably very boring game on his mother's phone was a tarzanian wonder and a real charmer. This little blond winner was pretty fun to watch, too. Everything was wonderfully interesting to him.

It was his parents who were complete boors. Once you have clearly communicated your instructions to us (their son was not listening at all) a single time, we are done. We KNOW what you wish your son would do. Please quit telling us. Please.

Please.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so like my dad with kids he loves them and loves the idea of them. He could spend hours observing them. He had an amazing amount of patience when I was growing up. I don’t remember him ever spanking me and he says he doubts he had to. ;-} Mark and M remember a different daddy. Then again they were always working on trouble.

some parents worry that the kids will bother the nice man sitting next to them so they over react to everything. At least they cared. Some passengers give that dreaded “Not a kid look” at them. I’ve had people thank me for the nice behavior of my children, I’m sure they thought it would be a long trip with my kids on the plane.

I work in an area where it’s just too fun to explore for the kids. Hey those thing talk to you and have stuff to look at so you have to climb up to get a better look. I wait and try to balance them. Some of the parents are cool with the kids looking at them some yank the little ones off and by yank I mean yank. I hate that it’s a normal part of being a kid to check things out. I try when I can get my hands on the kidos to show them what I do, they then get to push the computer screen and make the red go away. Some parents are cool to let us play while they finish without distractions some are relieved. I love holding them even that moist one. Ick!

karen said...

On a flight to Colorado, we had a million babies all around us, all screaming. The parents were frazzled and embarrassed. We just smiled at them and said, "Poor mommy and daddy. . it's only bothering you!" Seriously, as soon as the folks settled down the babes did, too.
Sometimes, with the toddlers, the battles should be picked. Looking out the window is not misbehaving. Running up and down the aisles and screaming at people is.