If you have been a parent long enough, you have at one point in time acted as if your child was innocent even though you knew he or she was guilty as sin!
The audacity of someone to point out a flaw in your child. "Who does she think she is?" Let's face it children are not altogether lovely. Like adults, they have their quirks too no matter how long their eyelashes, pretty their eyes, and cute their smile! I can't help but think of some of the worst people born into this world were once children who came from fairly decent homes. Mom, dad or both were blind as a bat!
It is very easy to blind one's self to the actions of a child especially when they are negative. We don't want to face the reality that we have trouble on our hands. Witness after witness says something about our precious child and we might cover our ears one day, put some rose-colored glasses the next, or act mute another day.
This issue of wearing blinders when it comes to children manifests in how often and how much we buy them. It shows up when people tell us something negative and we choose not to scold them for it. The blinders continue to draw close when we don't want to relinquish power over our children when they are troubled. We choose not to trust someone else better equipped to help our children. In a nut shell, we are the nut! We refuse to face the truth; therefore we act in "nutty" ways.
Some moms will physically fight someone about their child if the person says just one word about a child's actions. Other moms will cuss someone out and accuse them of "not knowing what they are talking about." I wonder what some of the mothers of psychos said when someone came up to their child and said, "I just want to let you know that your son is abusing the cat again and he just tried to stab a dog." or "Your children were seen attempting to hurt a classmate with a baseball bat for the fourth time." How did these moms respond, "Oh kids will be kids."
It's time to wake up and look our children in the eyes. If we see signs that something isn't right upstairs, don't reason it away. If we notice that our children are unusual--different from the rest, don't let a report card filled with good letter grades blind us to other things. If some good Samaritan warns us about our children, don't turn on the person like a snake and bite them! Get the child some help. Do your part, if it means making more sacrifices.
Nicholl McGuire
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