Watch Out!

Over the summer, my children and I often went to yard sales together. The girls especially loved to “shop” at the sales. One Saturday morning, I ended up with all four kids accompanying me on a round of garage sales. We stopped at an estate sale, but before we could even enter, someone running the sale barred our entrance. Apparently, children weren’t welcome in the house, probably because too many kids these days run wild throughout public places, smashing into things and people with abandon.

Of course, I couldn’t tell the man that my kids knew how to keep their hands to themselves, because I’m sure he’d heard it before. After all, haven’t you often seen children running around like holy terrors in restaurants or in department stores with their parents seemingly oblivious to their destruction?

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Knowing what your child is doing at any given moment is part of a parent’s job. Yes, we can’t watch our children 24/7, but when we’re in public places, we should be attuned enough to our children’s behavior that we can step in immediately if there’s a problem.

We pad our children within an inch of their lives to ride bikes and scooters, yet we often fail to equip them with the proper training to go out in public. Common courtesy demands that we as a collective society learn to curb our children in public (and private, but that’s a topic for another blog).

It doesn’t take much to show a child how to behave—and then to follow-up misbehaviors with proper consequences. But some parents seem to think it’s not their job to do the training or even pay close attention to their children in a public setting.

Sure, it does take a village to raise a child, but that doesn’t mean a parent abdicates her responsibility to do most of the hard work herself. It’s not a totally thankless role, but it’s one that often gets overlooked in today’s busyness.

So please don’t neglect this important part of raising children. Those of us who share this world with you offer our heartfelt thanks of appreciation for a job well done.

Until next time,

Sarah

Coming in early 2014, Sarah and Mary Elizabeth Peritti will speak on Parenting With Love & Leadership in a four-part webinar series. Contact Sarah through her website for more information.