An Amazing New Place I've Discovered!
Nov. 23rd, 2010 01:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bloodyrosemccoyToday at work we got to entertain two charmingly exuberant boys while their mother plodded about her business.
I would just like to say that I believe that discouraging children from tearing around like natural disasters is actually unhealthy in the long run. Kids have a lot of energy, and when possible, I’d say it’s good to let ’em burn it off with random bursts of horseplay.
I just wish they would find somewhere other than the library to do it.
The really weird thing is, our Liberry has a nifty little wildflower garden, an uneven field with a path, a small stand of trees, and a river surrounding it. It is an ideal little microcosm of Outside. And in the land of Outside, it is perfectly fine to race around and yell and tackle your brother. Inside, yelling is bad form, to say nothing of stuffing your brother’s head into a bookshelf. And yes, it’s cold outside, but that is what boots and coats are for—and I know you’ve got them; you’re holding them.
But I never see kids out there. They’re always inside. If they’re lucky, they have parents with them muttering “Shh” ineffectively every few minutes. If they’re not, they’re here from after school to closing at the Branch Library And Free Daycare Center,* at least until we throw them out.
I am beginning to suspect that parents do not know about Outside. As in, it just doesn’t register for them as anything other than The Place Where The Car Is. It doesn’t occur to them to send rowdy kids Outside, because Outside is not part of their existence. Which is a real bummer, because Outside is kind of a cool place—even for me, a certified Indoor Kid, Outside is a hell of a trip, even if it’s just the weird halfhearted park we’ve got.
So I have taken to reminding parents and kids. “Gentlemen,” I said to our small, wrestling patrons, “remember, you have to be calm in the library.”
The mother mumbled something that might have been agreement, but the boys didn’t hear.
“However,” I went on, “we have a great garden outside you can check out!”
The mother did not even seem to grasp that, but I hope I planted the idea. Outside. It’s a great way to let kids be kids.
Now if we could just unwedge little Jaden from the book drop, I’ll show you how to get there.
*Which also doesn’t help because that means they do not eat for at least six hours, except for the occasional piece of candy whose wrapper always winds up on the floor. This does not help encourage Indoor Behavior.
I would just like to say that I believe that discouraging children from tearing around like natural disasters is actually unhealthy in the long run. Kids have a lot of energy, and when possible, I’d say it’s good to let ’em burn it off with random bursts of horseplay.
I just wish they would find somewhere other than the library to do it.
The really weird thing is, our Liberry has a nifty little wildflower garden, an uneven field with a path, a small stand of trees, and a river surrounding it. It is an ideal little microcosm of Outside. And in the land of Outside, it is perfectly fine to race around and yell and tackle your brother. Inside, yelling is bad form, to say nothing of stuffing your brother’s head into a bookshelf. And yes, it’s cold outside, but that is what boots and coats are for—and I know you’ve got them; you’re holding them.
But I never see kids out there. They’re always inside. If they’re lucky, they have parents with them muttering “Shh” ineffectively every few minutes. If they’re not, they’re here from after school to closing at the Branch Library And Free Daycare Center,* at least until we throw them out.
I am beginning to suspect that parents do not know about Outside. As in, it just doesn’t register for them as anything other than The Place Where The Car Is. It doesn’t occur to them to send rowdy kids Outside, because Outside is not part of their existence. Which is a real bummer, because Outside is kind of a cool place—even for me, a certified Indoor Kid, Outside is a hell of a trip, even if it’s just the weird halfhearted park we’ve got.
So I have taken to reminding parents and kids. “Gentlemen,” I said to our small, wrestling patrons, “remember, you have to be calm in the library.”
The mother mumbled something that might have been agreement, but the boys didn’t hear.
“However,” I went on, “we have a great garden outside you can check out!”
The mother did not even seem to grasp that, but I hope I planted the idea. Outside. It’s a great way to let kids be kids.
Now if we could just unwedge little Jaden from the book drop, I’ll show you how to get there.
*Which also doesn’t help because that means they do not eat for at least six hours, except for the occasional piece of candy whose wrapper always winds up on the floor. This does not help encourage Indoor Behavior.
