They Say It Takes a Village, But How Many Villagers Do You Really Want Raising Your Kids?
Ben Martin thinks about the awkwardness of correcting other people’s kids — and his hesitancy to accept other parents correcting his own.
By Ben Martin
What’s the deal with Other People’s Kids (and by “Other People” I mean people who aren’t you or me)? Well, obviously, they aren’t as cute as our kids. Plus, they’re usually not nearly as well-behaved. I’ve also noticed that when my kids (and yours, too, of course) mess up or misbehave it’s really just a deviation from their norm rather than a reflection of their deeper character. Other People’s Kids, of course, are displaying their true colors. Evil colors. How do all these Other People deal with such evil little kids?
My kids (who, like yours, are angelic nearly 100% of the time, I promise) were at the park recently. There was also a good sized group of Other People’s Kids there. Kids being what they are, a game broke out. It was a sword fighting, swashbuckling adventure type of game that relied heavily on the use of plastic light sabers. I think it was a mash-up of Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and total chaos. There may also have been a hint of Lord of the Flies.
