I have a friend - let's call her Kathy.... Well Kathy has a beautiful and very expensive Llardo Christmas Nativity scene on display... It's displayed on a table that is about 4 feet high... Kathy enjoys decorating her lovely home for Christmas.... She has many decorations on display... many of the items are very fragile... But she is very careful ...... her husband and children are very careful.. The decorations are admired but not touched.... From the moment her children could walk/crawl - they knew what was an "okay to touch" decoration and what was a "no-no touch" decoration..... Kathy made sure there were many things that her kids could touch and enjoy so they too could enjoy the Christmas decorations and celebrations....
This year Kathy is having Christmas Eve at her home.... The entire family - aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and nieces will all be there... Kathy is dreading it this year... Why? Because her cousin has two
The cousin's girls are old enough to know right from wrong - one is six (6) and the other is four (4)... I believe the girls should be watched by their parent... I also believe that if one of the girls went into an area that no one was in and started to play with the fragile decorations and broke it... the cousin should offer to replace it or pay for it.... I believe that is the right thing to do... Whether Kathy accepts it or not... the offer should be made...
I believe it is always the parent's responsibility to look out for their own children - regardless of where they are - parenting is a 24 hour a day job... a job that we signed up for cheerfully.. Too many times - parents become too lazy... overwhelmed to train their children... to set boundaries... but we must set boundaries... We need to prepare them for the real world... for school... for other people's homes... where boundaries exist...
What do you think? Should Kathy put up/remove her Christmas decorations or ask her cousin to please watch her kids? Poll at the top of the post...
Christmas holidays can become very ugly when family and friends fight... Please remember the reason for this Festive Season and love when and wherever you can....
I think to be safe she should put the decorations away, because these kids are likely to break something and from the sound of things the parents wouldn't offer to replace anything. That would probably lead to hard feelings.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it's actually the cousins fault. She should be watching her kids and teaching them right and wrong!
I whole heartedly agree that parents should watch their children and be responsible for any damages created by their children. The kids should not even be in the room.
ReplyDeleteBut let's face it, life isn't always how it should be and if Kathy really wants to insure that this item is not broken, the only way to do it (besides not letting the monsters in her house) is to put it away for the evening.
Sucks, but that is likely the only way to secure her peace of mind.
Despite it being the time for miracles, it is unlikely that Kathy's cousin and children will change their ways for Christmas Eve. The best way to avoid trouble is to prevent it--put the Navtivity Set away for the evening.
ReplyDeleteThe cousin should watch her kids, but if history has already shown that she won't and if Kathy is already nervous that she won't, then she should put up the decorations. Better safe than sorry! And even better not to have difficulties getting along at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAgree with both Mari and Jacki. It's not fair, it's Kathy's house and she should be able to do what she wants in her own home. But in our family, we too have the cousin who never watches her kids and lets them do whatever they want to do. I complain and the 'cousin' didn't talk to me for over a year. Best year of my life!
ReplyDeleteI would vote to put the decorations away too. Just to be safe. It's risky to take the chance.
ReplyDeleteAlthough she should be able to keep her decorations out, it's probably best she put them away if she wants to keep them. I say this for all the reasons you have stated where the lack of parenting is concerned.
ReplyDeleteMorning, saw your link over at Kim's blog!! Love her so I thought I would pop over.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be great if we lived in a perfect world where everyone recognized their parental responsibility.
My vote put them away, it will remove the possibility for damage as well as remove the underlying worry that something will happen and then continue to pray for the parents to have clarity about the behavior of their children and their role as strong parental role models.
Blessings and merry Christmas
R