Tuesday, March 27, 2012

This is why I am a helicopter mom, forever hovering over my kids. Parents are raising hoodlums and turning them loose on our children.

With my husband coaching my son’s little league team we are at the ballpark a lot. And the ballpark is beautiful, you can tell it is well cared for. They even have a play park there for the kids, even though it is a little tucked away from view. In the back of my mind I have always been nervous about my kids playing on the play park while I watched Jon play ball, but a serious incident has never happened …… until last night.

The parents and I were all watching a scrimmage last night when I heard my oldest daughters cries from a ways away. My eyes scanned in the direction of the playground and I saw her running to me, frantic and crying. She was shaking and upset.  It took some time to calm her down, I thought maybe she had fallen or bumped her head, so I wasn’t pressing her too much for details. I just sat her next to me and put my arm around her.

I now wish I had gotten the information from her sooner so I could have gone to play ground right after she came to me and found the kids that tormented her.
No, torment is too nice of a word. What happened to her is flat out terrifying, especially for a 10 year old. A group of 5 or 6 boys cornered her when she was walking on the back side of one of the fields near the playground, they surrounded her and started grabbing at her and making lewd comments. They took turns grabbing at her chest and bottom, calling out sexual innuendos (yes, to my 10 year little girl) and terrifying her. She said they were laughing but mad at the same time, which she said she didn’t understand. If you are an adult, you know these kids were serious in terrifying her, you know this laughing/mad attitude.  She was able to break free and ran for me.

My guess is when they saw her running for adults they took off. Cowards, punks, thugs.  I have other names for these miscreants, but I am trying to turn my anger and my pain to the Lord, asking him for guidance. I would love to take her to the ballpark every day this week and walk Hannah around and see if she can point these punks out, I would love to take out my anger on them vigilante-like. But I won’t.

After Hannah went to bed last night I climbed in next to her and just held her, trying to hold on to her innocence that the world seems bent on stealing from her. I whispered promised to keep her safe, I apologized for not being there with her to make sure things like that didn’t happen, and I told her how very much I love her. And most of all I told her that it wasn’t her fault.

My beautiful Hannah
You make me laugh!

You amaze me!
You are my beautiful Hannah!



Don't let the bad apples of the world steal your smile!