Be kind cruel world...

When they handed that screaming, wrinkled, mis-shapen bundle over to me the first time, all I could think was how this was mine. Mine to grow, keep safe and mold into the future adult they would all eventually become. We think of it as a mother's job to raise the child, hopefully along with the father or at the very least an involved extended family. We fret over what they will eventually disclose to their therapist which we are convinced they will need. Blaming all their quirks, ticks and general malaise on how we didn't tuck them in one night or so and so got more marshmallows in their cocoa. I at least didn't think of all the other influences until there was school. I figured he would be learning the three R's, I wasn't planning on fixing all the other stuff he's learning. A big thanks to the teacher that sort of talked about stranger danger and the ensuing reprimands I received for talking to any one including the grocery clerk that I didn't technically know. Thanks again to the teacher that told him about 'bad' kids that are bully's and NOT to be friends with them, that's one way to stop them from being bully's for sure!!! And my biggest award to date is going to the teacher that told him never to give money to people on the street who ask for it, they can get a job they just don't want to. Seriously people, if my son wants to take what little money he has on his person and give it to Bill Gates because he thinks he's doing something good then for goodness sakes LET HIM! Don't teach him to assume he knows anything about anyone! Don't assume all strangers and bully's are bad people and don't assume Sally doesn't need your help because she's wearing a new outfit. Making assumptions is step one is stereotyping, a word I'm hoping will be relegated to dictionaries and not his active to do list. These are the conversations that come up while sitting down to a meal with my children, would they still come up if we were watching TV or playing video games? not likely.