a-mountain-ash:

Tonight, I was at the grocery store doing a little last minute shopping when I saw this young girl (maybe middle school?) trying to corral her two younger sisters while trying to find a pan. She was saying how they had to hurry. I thought “Okay, that’s legit. Parent probably just has somewhere to be.” But THEN she started pacing a little at the end of the aisle and her face was covered in poorly concealed anxiety and I heard her tell her sisters as she started walking away, “Dad’s gonna be so mad.” And that was it for me. 

I KNOW that feeling. I wasn’t the older sibling, but I was the “responsible one” and I know all too well the feeling of knowing your parent was going to get angry at you for not getting the right thing, or spending too much money, or taking too long. It’s a horrible feeling and it makes shopping so much more difficult because the enormity of choices are impossible to choose between, and the aisles are too big, and there are too many people pushing past you. So I went over to her and her siblings and asked what kind of pan she was looking for and then told her exactly where they were. Her face just lit up and she told me “thank you so much, you’re so nice!” As she walked away she turned back around and wished me a Happy Thanksgiving in just the most cheerful voice and obviously I returned the sentiment.

Take it easy on the kids in your life, both immediate and peripheral. Offer them help, give them guidance, pay attention to how they seem like they’re doing. Adults don’t make themselves available to children. They treat them like flies they’d like to swat. Let’s change that. It’s important they know there are people that WILL help them, so that maybe, eventually, they’ll ask for help themselves. I never did. This girl probably wouldn’t have either.