Struggling

I'm really struggling.

I'm struggling with the current state of our world. I'm struggling watching my generation of parents let their kids slip away from them.

I'm struggling because I want my kids to stay innocent for as long as possible, but everywhere we go, the world is on fire.

On a family trip to our local park this weekend, I was so upset at the behavior of the kids on the playground.

I know, I know. Kids will be kids. But this wasn't that.

Right in front of their parents, these kids blatantly refused to let my daughter slide down the slide. She looked to me, innocently, and said, "Momma, he won't let me slide." She didn't know what to do because she'd never experienced behind blocked like that before.

I asked him to move so he didn't get hurt. He refused and gave me a look, that, had I ever looked at any human being that way in front of MY momma, I wouldn't have seen the light of the next day! I told her to move to the other slide. He ran there to block her again.

I looked to his mom. She did nothing. She said nothing. Except shrugged.

I thought that maybe I was being overly sensitive. So I looked to my husband, who is a great temperature gauge in situations like this since we grew up so drastically differently. Well, even he said he wouldn't have gotten away with that.

As I thought about it, I realized that it would upset me less if this was it. I get it. Sometimes we're at the park because we are at the end of our ropes.

But these kids were doing all sorts of things you just don't do when other people are playing at the park. They were swearing up and down, loudly, and often to get a reaction from the other parents at the park. They were being rude to the girls on the playground. They were being rude to the parents who tried to say something.

It broke my heart.

Mommas. We are here to shepherd our children. We are here to guide them. We are here to teach them wrong from right. To teach them how to be adults.

I know this work is exhausting. I get it. We were at the park because the day at home was not easy and we all needed an outlet. But teaching our children basic human kindness is vital.

Our world is on fire, mommas. And if we want this world to be ANY better for our kids, WE need to live that MommifiedLife, stand up, and teach our children manners. We need to show our kids that we must be kind to others, and let public places be fun for everyone.

When we give up, we are giving our kids up to a future that is dismal. To a lifetime of hurt and hate. Because if we give up, we are telling our kids they aren't worth the time to shepherd.

I want my kids to live as innocently as possible.

So I'm struggling.

Because even a trip to the park is full of negativity.