As parents, we want to do any and everything to shield our children from the world and its cruelties. Sometimes that want and need can translate into something different. But one thing is for sure. These days, society is all about teaching us that it is cool to put the blame for our mistakes on someone else. This is the world that our children are growing up in and it is ruining their lives. For Real.

The thought of this wasn’t something that occurred to me until this past Fourth of July. Per usual, I gathered with my family at my aunt’s house for a potluck BBQ and some swimming with Sam and our relatives. There was a baby girl there who is about two years old running around like crazy and getting into things. Basically, being a typical toddler and her parents only had one or two thoughts about it. “Aw, isn’t she cute.” Or they didn’t give her a thought. This child was something else. Screaming, crying and carrying on in a way that made you want to rip your own ears off the side of your head. Ya know what I mean?!

No, I’m not here for kid bashing, but let’s face it, all kids, even our own are terrors sometimes. I guess it’s a good thing that they are so dang cute! Anyways, after the cookout was over and there was just a few of us left, I’m sitting at my aunts kitchen table and all of a sudden my ears are filled with words and phrasing that are not suitable for my usual G/PG rated articles, but I will say that she was pretty pissed. I look up and see her holding a planter that holds one of her many house plants, shaped like a swan, broken. Because of the events of the day we knew it was the little girl that did it. The swan was turned to not show the broken side and the pieces were pushed off to the side.

Truth be told, it wasn’t really about the broken planter. Yeah, she did really love it and after it was all said and done glued the thing back together. It was about the fact that this baby girl broke something that didn’t belong to her or her parents, in someone else’s home and nobody took responsibility for it. And by nobody, I mean her parents. I understand that there are days that having a toddler has got you within a monkey hair of losing your freaking mind, but that doesn’t mean you get to give up for the day and let them run loose. Parenting is 24/7 and there are no breaks or vacations.

What I took from this whole scene was three things:

1. Don’t ever let your children walk into someone else’s home and destroy it and let them think that it is okay. Because it’s not. Children learn at a young age to respect other people’s property and that lesson comes from the parents. Teach your children to be kind to other people’s belongings. It’s just the sensible thing to do.

2. By tucking the broken swan away and not saying anything, the parents of this child were basically showing her that she can take a mistake that she made and try to hide and put it away. And it's something that is oaky to do. This is teaching a child that she doesn’t need to take responsibility for something that she did. Yes, it was an accident and no, this is not blaming that baby. This is blaming her parents. And any other parents who do or think that it is alright. If your baby makes a mistake or has an accident, you, as the parent have to step up and show them how to take responsibility. Kids learn from the people around them, and as the parent you have to be the one to set the example. “I’m so sorry Susie Q here knocked over your plant. She did break it. Can I pay you for it?” Or something like that. Even if you don’t offer to pay at least fess up. You would think grown-ups would know that. You would think…

3. My aunt has too many house plants and too many breakables in her house. She doesn’t have any babies in her home on the reg and sometimes she just forgets what it’s like. But like I said before, it's not so much about the swan planter. Not only did the parents of this baby not take responsibility for her, they let her act horrible and didn't even try to take care of her behavior or watch her.

The moral of the story is this kids; where there are toddlers, there are broken things. And where there is parenting there is teaching. Instead of teaching our children to never take charge and action of their lives or their wrong doings, let’s teach them to stand up and learn what it means to be a decent person who can admit when they have done something wrong. Instead of pushing it off and hoping no one sees or not taking the responsibility for themselves. WE as parents have to be the ones to teach our children the ways to becoming good, respectable people. In the kind of world we live in today, teaching our children these things is more important than ever. Let’s all just be good people…and don’t break the swan.