I'm on holiday in the Carolinas and am being overrun with short people. Everywhere I turn height-challenged creatures are competing for my attention. My five grandsons plus a neighborhood crew of eight girls and four more fellas are literally overtaking the adults. What a blast they're having and I'm in seventh heaven. Seeing young people play together, cooperating at times, disagreeing more often than not, being downright mean in rare instances, reminds me of the world we live in. By allowing these children to interact, enjoy each other's company, settle disputes, make amends, and then get on with their fun again and again is not only healthy for them but extremely beneficial to their overall development.
Let the children play! More importantly, let them figure out their problems by making decisions on their own, no matter if what they decide is what we, the adults, would approve of or not. Children need practice in handling what life throws at them when they are very young, in order to make right decisions as teenagers. Then perhaps tragic events such as Columbine and Sandy Hook will become less and less.
With our group, unless a child is in physical danger, adults are not permitted to intervene. That's my rule and everybody is obliged to conform to it at least while I'm here.
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