Saturday, May 5, 2012

Honest to Pete!

As I was leaving Target with 2 of my favorite children this morning, I was witness to this little tidbit.

Mother: "If you expect me to carry you so you can keep playing your game (handheld gaming device) when you are 8, what are you going to do when you are 18 and in college?"

Son:  "I am not going to college.  I am going to live with you and play video games until I die."

The part that was truly a marvel was that she was carrying him while this conversation took place.  You'll be happy to know she didn't actually make it all the way across the parking lot and into the store while carrying her 8 year old infant.  She veered to the right and came upon a shopping cart return where she was able to deposit him and roll along in style and comfort.  You will be even happier to know that he was able to move from vehicle (BMW), to mothers arms, to shopping cart, without missing a beat in his game.  Rest easy now, junior is going to be just fine.  Maybe next time she will bring a pillow so he can be more comfortable when placed in his portable gaming crib.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the spine was intended for other purposes than to carry a perfectly well child 8 years of age simply because he cannot put his game down.  I may even be so bold as to say that the spine, especially of a mother, was intended to give strength enough to say something like, "I will not be carrying you into the store.  It's time to turn it off and walk like a big boy now."  I might have even left said child in said cart and kept on walking just to see if he would even realize what was going on.  Too bad I'll never have that chance.  I am fairly confident that my children understand what their legs are for.

Hey!  If she has enough cash to be driving a BMW she could probably throw some spare change to a hired hand willing to do this crucial part of her mothering for her.  Now there's an entrepreneurial opportunity waiting to happen.  Somebody corner that market quick!

The sad part is that she probably has no clue exactly how damaging her behavior is, hopefully anyway.  I have found that the Lord will educate me whenever I am willing to look at myself.  Sometimes it takes another's example to spark my interest and then I go all introspective.  Thank you BMW driving, gigantic diamond wearing, big boy carrying, Target lady.  I am now taking a long hard look at the different ways I may be enabling and damaging my children simply because my spine is lacking in some areas of my mothering.  Watch out little kiddies mommy is going to have a spine to rival titanium rods very soon, just you wait and see.

Stay tuned for the next installment: Privileged vs Entitled What's the Difference


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