Family Life Play

To the mummy in the red dress:

children sharing

I watched two children waiting patiently for the swing. They must have been 2 and 5 years old.

They waited for 10 minutes. They waited for 20 minutes.

The 2 year old cried and the 5 year old looked grumpy.

They waited for 30 minutes.

Their mum asked you if they could have a turn. You said that your daughter didn’t want to get off. And you pushed her again.

The 2 year old continued to cry, and the 5 year old stomped angrily.

I watched their faces. It was obvious they couldn’t understand what was going on.

The 5 year old asked why the mummy wouldn’t tell the girl to let him have a go. His mum tried to explain, but it didn’t seem to make sense to her either.

One of the greatest gifts you can give your daughter is to teach her the rules of life.

Instil in her the ability to share and to care, and a love of doing so. Encourage her to interact positively with others, to read their expressions, and to respond to their emotions. Guide her towards compassion, generosity and sensitivity towards those around her. Those are the things she will be judged on in the playground, in the classroom and in life.

Teach her well, and she will thrive. She will make wonderful friends, and forge meaningful and lasting relationships that will delight her, give her succour, and will help her to flourish into a beautiful human being.

Fail to lead her in the right direction now, and you will no doubt, cause her social and emotional difficulties, which are likely to haunt her, and you, for the rest of her life.

And so, I wish you luck with your little girl. And hope for her sake, that it’s not too late to reconsider the lessons you teach.

Why not start with a smile? They’re contagious you know!

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  • http://www.jfgibson.com.au/ Jodi Gibson

    That is rude and unacceptable. I can’t believe some people! I would have given her a piece of my mind (in a non-confrontational way in front of the children of course!)

  • Tahnee

    You have written this so well – and eloquently! If I had done the same it would have had a high level of profanity it it! When you see things like this happen, I shake my head at the parent (internally) but just feel so sorry for the child because you are so right – the lessons we teach (or in this case, fail to teach) are what will shape our children.. it makes me angry that some children don’t get the best start they all deserve.

  • Kate

    Boy! I feel guilty if my kids on swings mean others need to wait even two minutes! Thirty minutes?! Plain nasty…

  • Katie (@mumabytes)

    Urgh, I truly don’t understand how some parents can be so unaware of the implications of their actions – that insensitive woman was very clearly showing not just her child, but two others that it’s OK to be selfish and inconsiderate. Great life lesson. I’ve seen a bit of this around the traps and it really fires me up. Thanks for talking about it. xo

  • http://lilybettandboy.blogspot.com/ Lilybett and Boy

    What a great way to teach a kid to be rude and completely lacking in empathy. I hate it when people’s parenting philosophies rub and bump up against each other and it’s the kids that end up in tears.

  • http://lifeloveandhiccups.blogspot.com Sonia@ LIfe Love and Hiccups

    Oh wow my blood is actually boiling over – I cant believe a mother could be so thoughtless to another child and teach her own to be so selfish. Wow, just wow xx

  • http://www.13acres.com.au/ Brenda @ 13 Acres

    oh wow! that mum obviously does not understand park etiquette 101…I mean if there is is kid waiting for the swing, you tell your child “three more pushes” and he’s off!

  • http://samanthastone.com.au/ Sam Stone

    30 minutes! THat is just amazing. I would never have let my daughter get away with that – she would have been off after 5 minutes at the longest!

  • Maxabella

    I would have just pushed her out of the way and then pushed her kid off the swing and that would have been that. :)) x