Much is
made these days of the fact that children are overprotected by their parents.
I would
like to venture the suggestion that there are some children who should probably
be protected from their parents, as
the parents do not seem to be the most reliable of people. I refer, in
particular, to the following two experiences, both of which have taken place at
our home in N-o-T within the last two months.
Scenario 1
Sunday,
early afternoon. TH is busy doing the Tour du Shed (pre-burglary) and I am
pottering. The doorbell rings. In the absence of anyone else to do the deed, I
answer it.
On the
doorstep stands a rather unkempt and slightly harassed-looking man, accompanied
by a small boy.
“I’ve come
to collect Katie” he says.
I look back
at him, waiting for additional information.
“Katie?” He
says “From the party?”
“I think
you have the wrong house” I say, politely. “I do not know a Katie, and there is
no party here”
He makes a
loud “Tut!” of exasperation, turns on his heel and marches off, as if it is my
fault that we are not hosting a party, or as if maybe we ARE, and have
forgotten to issue Katie with an invitation.
I return to
my pottering, throwing a bit of muttering in, for good measure.
Scenario 2
Approximately
5.45 pm this afternoon. I am sending a few e-mails. The doorbell rings. I
answer it.
“Caroline?”
says the man on the doorstep “Caroline’s mum?”
I refrain
from jumping in with any response, pending further clarification.
“I’m looking
for my daughter” says the man. “She’s here on a playdate, and…I’ve got the
wrong house, haven’t I? My wife would kill me if she could see this, I told her
I knew exactly where it was….do YOU know where Caroline lives?”
I reply
that I’m sorry, but I don’t know any Caroline living nearby. None of the small
boys next door appear to be called Caroline, and I’m fairly certain that none
of the small girls in the immediate vicinity are called Caroline, either.
I
apologise, and, refreshingly, so does he, as he sets off in search of Caroline,
asking as he leaves whether I mind him leaving his car outside our house whilst
he conducts his search.
I wonder
how such a big thing as not knowing where you’ve left your child actually
occur, and am then reminded that the PM and Mrs C successfully left their
offspring at the pub over the weekend. It seems to be an increasingly common
oversight. And rather worrying…..
I just wonder who it was who took these children to their parties....
ReplyDeleteIt seems the world turned upside down.
As children we had a tremendous amount of freedom to roam about - but my parents knew my friends' parents.
That said, having suffered the brats who infested pubs and restaurants in England on my last visit to mother I can understand the temptation to leave them there...
I am sure, Fly, that the idea of a child walking anywhere, accompanied or otherwise, is something future generations will read of in history books and marvel. Even many years ago, my healthy, mobile son (aged seven or eight, IIRC) was returned from a playdate by his playmate's mother by car. Not too strange, until you consider that the playmate in question lived all of 100 metres further down the road...
ReplyDeleteCommon sense and practical skills seem to have been replaced by satnav and 4 x 4's. And "sharing" the parenting means that the mother delivers whilst the father collects, but neither think to exchange details of the address...
I'm in training to be a fully-fledged Grumpy Old Woman. So far, I'd say I'm progressing rather well!
I am tempted to try to restore the sentiment current at the time of Defoe when the idea of a child earning its corn at an early age by participating in the family's nail making business was felt to be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, since the modern equivalent of the nail making business would be counselling, business management or reiki healing I shall desist, in the interests of the child.
Mine flatly refused to go up the chimney. I did try, though!
DeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteWe rather imagine that if the Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury is capable of forgetting the whereabouts of his offspring, then lesser mortals should feel free to do the same unashamedly. In certain cases we can understand why, but then we are not parents!!
Hello Jane and Lance
DeleteIt does seem to be very "on trend" at the moment, led by those at the top. The people I have met through the above events did seem, however, to be demonstrating less chagrin than I normally feel when I mislay my reading glasses...
Round here the car is essential if a child is ever to get to a social engagement, but we did always try to remember to go and collect them. :-) That said, I still remember with shame the time I made a detour on my way home from work to collect DS from his judo class, got sidetracked when I met someone and had a chat and was halfway home before I remembered I hadn't picked him up. Oops!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember ever leaving mine anywhere, Perpetua - although there were times I would have liked to! At last, now that son#2 has a car, we are reaping the rewards of all that taxi-ing, and getting him to drive us to places!
Delete