I often hear or read that we are raising a “softer generation” and this comment always makes me smile because I don’t know about you, but I’m OK with that. What do you guys think about this?

When I was five, a kindergartner, I would ride the school bus home from school. The bus didn’t drop me off at my house, instead I would walk three houses up to my house, unlock the door and lock it behind me. I would stay in my home for two to three hours by myself until my parents got home from work. At 10, I did the same thing but with a five year old brother (Red) in tow. When I got my license at 16, I would drive from the high school to the middle school to pick up Red and then drive home. We were not allowed to answer the phone if it rang or the door if someone came to it, which they rarely did. If our friends were outside playing, we could not play with them until 5:30 or 6:00 when our parents got home. There were no after school activities because we were a package deal and we had no one to help us out.

Now that I’m a mother, I understand the struggles with being lower middle class and having children. I understand the struggles but do I want my kids to go through what we through, heck no!

I work in retail and recently dropped to part time for this very reason. My kids are going to be kids. I don’t expect them to take care of themselves, there is no reason for them to be alone and have to take care of each other. They should be allowed to play with their friends after school. They should be able to come to me if they need me. And if this means my kids are softer, fine, I’m OK with that.

This week, I was reminded of this. AJ (remember, he’s 7) went to summer camp with $3 for snacks for three days. Usually they put the money into an account but this was the last week and they did not want any money left in the accounts. I was unaware of this. My baby left his $2, after the first day, in his cubby. This is his cubby, he’s used it all summer. He has left water bottles, towels, glasses, sunscreen, you name it in this cubby. So, it didn’t occur to him his money would be any different. When he got home that evening and we were talking about their day it came to light that Potter still had his snack money. And when I dug deeper into the conversation I found out about the $2 left in AJ’s cubby. The first thing in my head is “His money is gone, there’s no way it’ll still be there.” But I kept this to myself and talked about their day. The next morning I sent AJ into camp with the instructions to see if his money was still in his cubby. Unfortunately it was not.

The look on his face made my stomach turn. He couldn’t understand where it went. Some things you must know about AJ:

• He is just like me, he wears his heart on his sleeve.
• He is honest, he has a hard time telling a lie even when it’s a joke. He has an easy to spot tale.
• He expects the same from other people. He expects to be treated the way he treats others. (Imagine that!!)
• He is loving, he loves everyone no matter their background, skin color, age, etc.

I gave him a dollar, a kiss, and told him we would talk after I got off work.

I thought about it all day. My stomach was in knots. His heart was broken. He got a glimpse at what this world is like. Someone stole from my baby, at a christian based camp!

So, we talked about it. I told him that kids don’t want to do bad things, but sometimes they do. We compared it to times when we are tempted and have a choice to make. I explained that sometimes people make a decision that isn’t always the best one. We talked about how just because it happens to you, doesn’t mean it’s OK to do it to other people. I pointed out that we all want to be good people, but good means different things to different people. We talked and we hugged. He’s very tender-hearted, he may have cried a little. He’s so easy to talk to.

I don’t want my kids to face the world without knowing what to expect but I also want to be the one to expose them to the world. As a parent, it is my job to prepare them and to show them how amazing this world can be. I think the world needs to soften up a little and love more but that’s for another post.