Dear parent,
RantWoman is really not in a position to evaluate your
parenting one way or another. RantWoman simply does not want to walk on your
child when he or she is seated in a path where more people than just RantWoman
might also be trying to walk. When RantWoman suggests, maybe even in a really
tired voice that moving out of the way would be very helpful, really
appreciated…, RantWoman is expressing great trust and confidence that your
child can and will do what is asked. RantWoman apologizes if that does not
sound like what came out of her mouth.
RantWoman will try to remember next year to offer to the
Children’s program to come talk about vision loss and generally being aware of
other people on sidewalks. RantWoman will do the best she can to make this be
positive and fun for everyone. But please note it has taken RantWoman a LONG
time to be willing to speak.
Please hold continually needed speaking in the Light. Think
of it as continuing revelation, and I will also hold all the other dimensions
of parenting as well.
Sincerely,
RantWoman
The longer version, with thanks to a 5-year-old at an Annual
session plenary insisting in a 5-year-old way that worship is IMPORTANT.
RantWoman is still getting this blind person thing down. And
RantWoman is not a Quaker because she is any good at this peace and love stuff;
RantWoman is a Quaker because she needs all the help she can get. Furthermore,
RantWoman draws great spiritual nurture from people much older than she who
also still do not have things figured out. RantWoman does not promise this
automatically makes things any easier for everyone.
Here RantWoman must share a story from her own Meeting with
a plea to hold one Friend in the Light because RantWoman herself can barely
speak to this person. One week last fall, the number of exuberant children was
particularly large and many of them new to the Meeting. RantWoman’s nerves were
jangled by other things and RantWoman did not want to share the jangling about
things that cannot be fixed, only held in the Light. As with the child
mentioned above, RantWoman both figured the children involved can grow and did
not want to walk on loose kids while they grow. So RantWoman duly emailed
numerous topical people asking for help. One of the first replies, PLESE hold
the sender in the Light, was the ever so
helpful and welcoming suggestion that RantWoman go find someplace to worship
where there are not children. BLESSEDLY, a try-again email and others' voices emerged as well!
RantWoman and God have an understanding. RantWoman will ride
one bus to Meeting for Worship. That standard gets RantWoman to any of the
three unprogrammed Meetings in Seattle plus or minus a walk or a shorter
two-bus routing in one case. Fortunately for the future of the Religious
Society of Friends ALL of these Meetings have children! Plus, RantWoman really
digs being Auntie and tends to assume that parents and children need a whole village
anyway, though RantWoman supposes readers a little bit get to take their chances
on which of the RantWoman Auntie personae show up at any given moment. Bottom
line: Sensible Auntie really, really does not want to walk on small children
and encourages everyone to be aware of the concern!
Posts
