Children should be treated with love, respect

I have told this story before, but I think it warrants a rerun.

I was in the grocery store one day several years ago and my heart was sad as I observed a mother and father shopping with their three children. Two were school age and one was a toddler. The father was pushing the basket and the mother was barking out orders: “Stay in line,” “Don’t touch anything.” The toddler riding in the basket started to fumble with a package of crackers. The father stopped the cart, picked up her little chubby hand and slapped it three or four times. Of course the child screamed.

The mother remarked, “You ain’t hungry. Don’t touch.” The other two little children just walked on ahead trying to make the best of a terrible situation. I thought: Great summer for those little ones. I feel sorry for them all year.

In contrast, Buffy, Annie, and I witnessed a wonderful scene in Clovis several summers ago. It was far from the scene that I saw in the grocery store.

One summer day in June, we were at a drive-up window at a fast food eatery in Clovis. We noticed a family in a vehicle that was loaded down to the max with travelling paraphernalia. They pulled up next to us in a small car. We remarked to one another how loaded down that small vehicle seemed to be.

We watched as the passengers parked and began to unload. Tied down on top of the car was a folded up baby stroller, two little bicycles and suitcases. The first to get out was a little girl about seven, with a black dachshund. She set the dog down as she led the leashed dog toward the grass that lined the parking lot.

Next, the rider’s side door opened and the mother stepped out. A baby about three months old was in a baby sling tied around her. She also had a diaper bag over one shoulder, and a small portable cooler in one other hand.

Next to appear was a boy about 10 who leaped out of the driver’s side in the back. He held a leash that was attached to a chubby English bulldog. After the dog jumped from the car, the boy led this wobbly, hefty, swaggering dog to the grass where his sister stood with the dachshund.

Last to come was the dad who got out from the driver’s side. Turning around, he had a little toddler and set him down on the pavement. This little guy ran to the grass to meet his brother and sister.

Amid barking dogs, tangled leashes, and skipping children, the dad kept the dogs and the toddler while the mother headed into the restaurant with the other children. That left the dad sitting on the grass with one dachshund, one English bulldog, and a toddler.

In a few minutes out came the mom and the children with food. They joined the dad and dogs and toddler on the grass and everyone joined in for a picnic on the grass. But as confusing, chaotic and hectic as the scene appeared to be, all seemed happy. What looked like chaos to us was a sweet little family just making memories.

Annie, Buffy and I marveled. Annie said, “You know mom, those kids will remember this for a long time.”

Looking at our lives, we see that somehow seconds turn into minuets, minutes to hours and hours to days, days to years... and we wake up one day and find our children grown. I know that we are frail and parents do make mistakes.

But the truth is that our children are gifts from God and they should be treated with love, honor and respect.

I wanted to tell those parents in the grocery store that they will not pass this way again. Each day in their family’s life is valuable time. Sooner than they think, their children will be grown. Even more ironic, the parents will wonder why their children have no respect for them and no loyalty toward them. How sad to look back years later and wish things had been different.

I wish I could have told those parents in the store to change their ways while they still have time.

Judy Brandon is a Clovis resident. Contact her at:

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