Putting Your Kids on a Leash to Handle Your Fear
Recently, my wife and I held a yard sale to clean out the basement. Throughout the day, I watched with interest, all the parents who brought their children along. Most of them constantly snapped at their kids to leave things alone and not to touch. I must have heard the command, “Don’t Touch,” too many times to count. The adults walked along slowly, deep in thought as they examined all the items on the tables and the contents of the boxes. Then, every minute or so, they would look up to see where their child was and bark at him to put down what he had in his hands. Some children looked at the parent, dropped the item, and then just went to another box to pick something else up. Other children just ignored the parent and continued to play with the object until the parent rushed over to her and demanded she drop the item. That child would then cry, increasing the parent’s anguish. I Brake for Yard Sales: and Flea Markets, Thrift Shops, Au...