A funny true story

[MariJo7]

Jenny (not her real name) is great with kids. She has 5 of her own and she is a kindergarten teacher by profession. At her job, she is known for her ability to resolve difficult situations, and she is often called for, if the others do not know what to do. What she finds the most difficult thing sometimes, is not the bringing up of children but the educating of grown ups. Here is a true story about how she once dealt with a permissive mother...

Jenny's friend Kelly (not her real name) came for tea with her little toddler son, who was about 2 years at the time. The ladies were enjoying their tea and cookies while the children were playing. Jenny kept an eye on the playing childrend and noticed, that Kelly's little son Herbert (not his real name) was doing some things she would never allow her own kids to do. When Jenny said "please, Herbert dear, we rather not do that here", Jenny got a little tight and upset. In his opinion, Jenny restricted the freedom of the playing children too much.

Actually, Jenny was not a strict mother. She allowed many noisy, even messy things, as long as the mess could be cleaned up later. So, when Herbert went to play with the coals and cinders in Jenny's fire place, she thought: "All right then, Kelly. Herbert is your boy. You will clean him up later, and I will wipe the floor. Let him explore freely, if that's what you want." It was summer. There had not been any fire in the fire place for many weeks, so Jenny saw no danger in the game.

Jenny had, however, bought herself a new couch. She very seldom bought something new and nice to herself, but this couch she had liked really much. It was made of white leather. Jenny very much wanted to keep her new couch clean and whole for a while. So, when she saw little Herbert approach her new piece of furniture with his coal black hands, she gently took the toddler by the wrists, led him to the bathroom and washed his hands with soap and warm water.

This kind of restriction of freedom, however, was too much for Kelly, who told little Herbert it was time to go home. She did, however, invite her "narrow minded" friend for tea.

Jenny was puzzled. She felt it was very unfair to be labeled as "narrow minded". How to deal with a friend like Kelly?

When the time came to pay back the visit, Jenny took her three children with her. They were all pre-schoolers at the time. Before she rang the doorbel, she told her kids (who usually vere quite well behaving in most situations): "Kids, this is a very special home. Here you can do whatever you like." Then she pushed the doorbell button.

While enjoying her tea and cookies at Kelly's place, Jenny kept her eyes on her kids. She saw Polly, Jane and Mike (not their real names) taking full advantage of the invitation to do everything they liked. Jenny was not a mean person: had the kids really been about to really destroy something or to do something dangerous, she would have intervened. They were, however, just creating a chaos by opening every cupcoard and closet and spreading the contents everywhere. They were not really making mess just for the messes sake. They were actually quite constructive: they built trains aind booths in every corner and corridor of the house, and they used all the towels, blankets and clotches they could find as building material. With a little sadism, Jenny noticed the growing concern in Kelly's eyes, but she refused to say anything about Polly's, Jane's and Mike's building project. "Have it your way, Kelly", she thought. "I'm not going to be narrow minded..."

The ladies finished their tea, and Jenny decided it was time to go home. She took the kids and said to Kelly: "Thanks for the very nice visit. You are welcome to take revenge at my place any time."

Polly, Jane and Mike thought it had been such a wonderful visit! They probably wondered when they were going to visit next time this nice auntie and her special home where everything was allowed...