Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Ode to Lindsey

Your infectious, funny chortle
As a baby in the back seat
Was one of the many joys
You gifted to me as a tiny treat.

As you grew older and wiser,
And your little hand grew bigger in mine,
I sometimes had quick twinges—
The baby that you were was gone in no time.

But now that you’re a big frog
All sassy and grown,
It’s a joy to watch you learn
As you make your life your own.

Should you feel lost,
All you need to know
Is that you’re surrounded by love
And you’re perfect, smart, and beautiful, so go!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

More People You Meet in Your Neighborhood

I walk my little dog quite a bit because he's still a puppy and still being housetrained. We see quite a bit on our walks, Tomas and I, and the weekends are especially busy in my neighborhood. This weekend we ran across a couple of children I haven't seen before: a little boy of about five riding a Big Wheel (if they still make those) and a girl of about seven riding a scooter, the kind you have to push with your own oomph.

I walk by the little girl, who is riding her scooter back up a long stretch of a dead-end street where there is hardly traffic. She's within about half a block of home. I call "Hi!" cheerily as she approaches me. No response. She rolls past me, not making eye contact, moving toward her little brother, who is watching and waiting for her. I frown and roll my eyes behind my sunglasses. When I was a child, it was considered unutterably rude not to respond to and interact with people who addressed you in public.

Has human nature or parenting changed so much in thirty short years that children must be taught to be mortally afraid of strangers? To ignore them and even stick out their tongues as they cling to a parent's legs? I wonder how this training will affect the children's emotional intelligence, which is supposedly THE most important quality for success. I wonder how these kids will change the fabric of our society.

On the way back to the house, a gentleman in his 70s rolls his car up to the curb to chat me up about how he and his wife have a little girl Chihuahua that walks them, instead of the other way around. I laugh, and we talk about how funny it is that little dogs have so much personality. I am grateful for the human interaction. "You have a wonderful day!" he says as he pulls away. "You too!" I shout after him, smiling, feeling good and right about the world once again.