Caring for the Next Generation

This has been haunting me, so might as well write.

A couple of weeks ago,my granddaughters and I went into the local dollar store after the older's game ( which was awesome, she blocked five saves by the other side and...)

There was a couple ahead of us, with a child about 4 or 5. She had on a coat with a hood. Never saw her face. She had a rope around her back, attached to a cardboard sign in front of her.

Having come from a sports game, I assumed her sign was a yea team for someone.
So I asked her what her sign said. She didn't answer or turn around. No worry. Lots of young kids are like that.

Being a busybody, I reached for the cardboard and read the sign. And stood in shock.
It read," KEEP AN EYE ON ME. I STEAL FROM PEOPLE." I was speechless.

I looked up at a man I assume was her father, and an upset woman I assume was her mother.

He said they had tried everything, and this was the last thing they could think of.
He said she had taken things from Kroger's three times.

The little girl kept her head down. They paid, and his hand was somewhat affectionately on her shoulder when they left.

The checker commented, "Nothing illegal about what he did."

There were murmers of agreement and incoherent sounds. We were discombobulated.

What went on? was this a child who couldn't control her like for candy in the store?
What else had the parents tried? Were they the parents? was this a scam so that they could steal while eyes were on the kid?

I'll never know. It felt genuine. And I wondered what they had tried. Parenting skills aren't taught, valued, or acknowledged. If you are lucky enough to be born into a healthy family, you have the skill. If not, LOL. What do I do with a culture I belong to that doesn't value parenting?

I can try to spend time with kids, and try to give them boundaries and imagination.
It's all I can think to do.

It sure is fun.

Wealth of Family

This was a busy weekend for Matt G. and family. They closed on the house and moved. I took care of the kids parttime Friday and all day Saturday. I had a wonderful time. The girls had fun, too. We went for pizza, over to the park to play (I sat at a picnic table in the cool shade of the trees, while they played in the full sun on the playground. Temp in the 80s, unbelievable for July in Texas.)

We stopped for bottled water and went to the movies--their second time to see "Ratatouilie" and my first. Note to parents who haven't been yet--it's the best cartoon I've seen in several years, fun for adults AND kids, and the Pixar cartoon before the cartoon is not to be missed, I laughed out loud all the way through. Then I took the kids home, stopping off for fast food for all. Had them away for about 12 hours, and their parents had done miraculous things with the time.

The kids were happy and relaxed. So was I. And parents were exhausted but pleased with progress. I understand "Transformers" also will be a decent movie for them, but Saturday I wasn't sure. They are so much fun, these girls. They are smart, and sweet, and their parents have done a great job. I just enjoy all the time with them, as do their other grandparents. My own children had one grandparent who died early. These girls have five grandparents. An aunt and uncles. Cousins they see from time to time. Not unusual, but very different from my own experience.

A wealth of family really is wealth, a richness in family that has no substitute. Isn't it nice, when the next generation does so well? Oh, yeh, great earnings would also be nice for them. But I look at my sons, and I think, "I didn't screw up too bad." The universe is enriched by my progeny.

It really is.

Gasoline-soaked clothes hurt people, not sparklers

News brief over the weekend.

A 2-year-old suffered second-degree burns over half her body when she ventured near a teenager with a sparkler after her clothes had been drenched in gasoline. The clothes caught fire and she burned. That's the only information. Seems to be passed off as a dangerous fireworks incident.

Like hell.

More kids die of neglect than abuse. Really. Massive more kids.

How did a 2-year-old douse herself with gasoline? Well, I guess there might be an explanation that might make some kind of sense, though I can't think of one now.
When she did so, what parent would not immediately wash her off, removing the clothing? and redressing her in something fresh or bundling her in someone's clean t-shirt while her own clothing washed and dried? None of that happened. She was left in her gasoline-soaked clothes. And, as per her getting doused to begin with, allowed to wander around, unwatched. And so she encountered the sparkler. When her clothes caught fire, response was slow. So she was badly burned.

I'm sure her family is traumatized. I am hopeful they even care she is hurting and in the hospital. I bet not one of them has agonized "if only I had..." Hey, things happen. Those sparklers are more dangerous than we thought. Not our fault. Never our fault.

To me, this is a clear case of abuse--neglectful abuse. Don't know if CPS is investigating, or what the results will be if so. Possibly nothing. Family party. Kid wanders around, under eye of many people. Hey, an accident.

It didn't need to happen.