To maintain some sort of normalcy in my extreme response to stranger danger I instructed my children on the wisdom of safety in numbers.
“Never agree to do anything with anyone unless there is at least one other person in the room.” I’d command.
One theatre director came under this mandate when my 11 year old son refused to enter a storage room alone with him when asked to help put chairs away after a rehearsal. My son insisted on handing the chairs into the director from outside the room.
Today my stranger savvy toddlers are all working and I have explained the prudence of never being alone with a member of the opposite sex. Of course my husband and I have had to heed our own advice too so that we don’t compromise teenagers, young adults…and ourselves. Rule of thumb at this juncture, three is no longer a crowd.
Purity is so precious, we naturally vere towards it when they are babies. As they mature do they realise how precious it is? My children were always delightful in their immaturity. Young people today are forced to grow up so quickly but their maturity takes longer to engage. This may have something to do with being forced to skip precious stages in their lives; rushing through experience as quickly as possible so that they can “grow up.”
An innocent little example of that comes with graduation. I was at the store the other day, you know the one where they welcome you as you grab a basket? I saw a six year old with a white mortar board on, she was standing proudly with her mother and was blowing the tassle out of her face. This head attire should be part of the college graduation ceremony, not the kindergarten one. In England we do not have big graduation ceremonies until we leave collge with our degrees. I know, the Brits are stanch in their adherence to tradition but quite honestly, each class we pass through is part of the educational journey through school and into college where graduation, complete with cap and gown, symbolises our final passage into adulthood and independence. The gilt is somewhat removed when we have pariciapated in “mock” graduation ceremonies since Kindergarten. What!
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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