People Watching

We just got home from our county fair. Actually, it's in the next county, but until we moved to the country, it was our county, too. It is an annual tradition that we load up the kids (on a school night, no less) and go have fun at the fair. While we were there, Oldest Child and Youngest Child each got to bring a friend. Being the mother that I am, I decided that it would be easier for each to have a friend than for (1) me to have to get on the rides and (2) listen to the precious cherubs bicker, fight, and argue the whole time we were waiting in line.

I did a lot of that tonight...waiting...I don't ride rides (another post for another day; but suffice it to say Dear Hubby now believes me when I tell him I get sick on rides...) and the longer we were there, the longer the lines became - imagine that. So the longer I waited. Which gave me lots of time to people watch...and people watch I did. I now realize why they call Atlanta the melting pot of the south...and I thought about how glad I am I never gave into the temptation of getting some permanent body art put somewhere on my body...and I counted all they years that have gone by since DH and I "dated" at the fair, Oldest Child was a mere babe her first year at the fair...all the years we spent in the "kiddy only" secion...until this year when she informed me she WAS 13 and had a cell phone and was capable of walking around the fair on her own (another blog for another day...) and I thought about how everyone out there tonight was having a good time.

We all want the same things for our kids. When it boils down to it, as parents we want our kids to be happy. And we will do anything in our power to ensure that this happens. Whether we were born and raised in Georgia, another state or another country, we want to make our kids happy. I saw one little Hispanic girl with beautiful long dark hair and georgous dark eyes. The precious little thing was eating a roasted corn-on-the-cob that was as big as she was...and she was smiling the whole time she was eating it!

And I thought about this post from This Ain't New York where she found a little girl in a store all alone. I constantly had my guard up tonight. It's enough pressure to be responsible for my own kids; now I was responsible or two other kids, too! And of course they didn't want to ride the same rides at the same time. My head was spinning the whole time. All these people, everywhere. What if someone were to try to take one? Mine or someone elses? I noticed myself eyeing wee ones to make sure there was an adult close by. Whether it's the mother in me or the teacher in me or the human being in me, I needed to make sure everyone was matched up. And I thought about all we've taught our girls about how not to go anywhere with strangers, and we spend 13 years teaching her...but is it enough? When do we take a step back and see if what we've been teaching has sunk in.

But tonight was a night to watch people and think about the song we learned in Bible School - red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight...Jesus loves the little children of the world.