Someone became very wealthy with the invention of the squeaker shoes. For those who do not know what they are this site sells them and explains them on the homepage. If you don't feel like linking, basically, these are regular toddler sized shoes, but with one fundamental change: They SQUEAK as the child walks. Very loudly, supposedly to make it easier for a parent to keep track of their child.
I was thinking about these today at work, where several children came in wearing them (although thankfully not all at the same time). While I think the product is an interesting idea, a thought occurred to me today. If you are a parent and you need shoes that squeak to find your child, you aren't paying close enough attention to your child.
I have said before I'm not a parent, and therefore am not really qualified to make too much of a judgement. However, I feel that if a child wanders away enough times that a parent justifies the purchase of special shoes just to be able to find their child, clearly there is something wrong with the picture. As I have said before, there is nothing so important in a retail environment that a parent should have to pay that little attention to their child.
Call me old fashioned, but when I was a kid, if I wandered off and got lost, I didn't get to go shopping with my mom. I had to stay right with her or be in the cart, and if I walked by her and she couldn't find me, I was in serious trouble. I learned very quickly not to leave my mother's side.
Then there are the parents who do not pay attention to what their child is doing, even if they are in sight of the parent. Today, for example. The store I work at has toys near the registers. There are balls, plush toys, candy; so many distractions. There was a little girl, couldn't have been more than three years old. She found the bin of balls, and was clearly thrilled. I was working in our fitting rooms when I wasn't needed at the registers. This little girl's mom was on one side of the waist-high wall that has all the toys and candy displayed, and the little girl was by the balls. One by one, this little girl picked up the balls and bounced them away from her. A call over the walkie had me headed up towards the registers, and I didn't even make it out of the fitting room before nearly tripping on several of the balls this little girl tossed around. She made no effort to chase them, feeling content to merely bounce one and reach for another.
There was a woman keeping an eye on this little girl; not a relative or a family friend. Just a random woman in line. The mother was so preoccupied with whatever was going on at the register she was at that she was not even watching her own daughter. As the mother finished her transaction, she walked back around to the other side, saying to the woman, "Thank you for wrangling my children." The mother then tried to get her daughter to follow her (rather unsuccessfully, might I add) and made her way back towards the kids department, calling for her daughter to follow her as she walked. She paused for a moment in the fitting rooms to answer her cell phone, still calling for her daughter (who, coincidentally, was wearing squeaker shoes).
I don't remember the daughter actually following the mother, who couldn't seem to be bothered to watch her own child. Nor did the mother help pick up the balls the daughter threw. Not one. The daughter put a few away, but the majority of them were put away by employees and other customers. I could not believe it.
I understand being busy and having things to do. But I feel as though you should never be so busy that you don't teach your child to pick up a mess they make (or to not make a mess in the store to begin with) or help them clean up.
Sometimes, I feel so frustrated with the way other people raise their children. I know everyone is different, but it feels as though common sense and courtesy are leaving our culture faster than they can be taught.
Please be kind and considerate shoppers. Teach your children courtesy. Teach them to be considerate of others. The world will thank you for it later.
