I seldom speak with young men on the street, but this young man ~ he was young, and not yet a man ~ maybe 5 or 6 years old. But very serious. I had noticed this slightly stocky fellow looking in my direction. It was just a couple of days ago and temperatures had soared. The lineup at the ice cream window was long. I was on my way to a hair appointment and he and his mom were at the end of the line. He stood with his little arms folded, his head tilted a little on one side. He glanced up at his mom and whispered - ‘what’s that she’s got?’ nodding towards my cane. I seldom use it, but this day between the heat and an ache-y back, it was my balancing rod. His mom looked at me, maybe hoping I hadn’t heard his whisper. But I just smiled, then looked at her little one and told him. “It’s a cane.” Suddenly shy, he didn’t say anything so his mom asked him. ‘Don’t you want to know why she’s using it?’ Looking him in the eye, I said ‘I need it for my really sore back today.’ It seemed an end to our very short conversation so I said good-bye and went on my way glad for this serious young man's curiosity.
“To take children seriously is to value them for
who they are right now rather than adults-in-the-making.”
~ Alfie Kohn, author of Unconditional Parenting
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