Friday, April 25, 2014

Manners, Sunburns, and Rain

 
 
 
 
We ventured out to the park today and enjoyed some lovely, unclouded sunshine. We have sunburned faces to show for it!
 
While playing with Jacob, another little boy pointed to him and exclaimed, "He's fat!" Of course, I immediately looked at him, and with a very dissaproving face replied, "that was a very ugly thing to say". He wasn't quite sure how to take my reproach, as it was clearly not coming from his mother...Another little boy standing close by chimed in, in agreement with me and said, "yes, that was very ugly". And that was that, they carried on playing. Of course, Jacob being Autistic and mostly unaware of what the word fat even means, wasn't phased by this. As his mother, it is my job to protect him from such things coming from others who do not understand his condition.
 
The rest of the afternoon I thought about what kind of things that little boy's mother is teaching him, mostly not teaching him. It was evident the child had no manners at all. If he had said those ugly words to some other "normal" child, they would have either tattled on him, or cried.
 
As a mother I can say that it is our responsibility to help our children acquire manners. I may not necessarily blame that little boy for his rudeness, but I most certainly blame his parents. Our children do what we teach them. What they see is what they do. A child only knows to be kind because that's what mommy and daddy do in front of them. Children, as I have learned, are very perseptive to their surroundings. They are little sponges that soak up everything they see and hear. They are intelligent little beings!
 
I am saddened in a way for that little boy, as he may go on to hurt another child without realizing how his words are affecting them. I just hope that his mother and father will step up to the plate and teach their child some manners!
 
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