Someone Else

   – by Maria Lee

We’re the parents.

 

We’re all they’ve got.

 And the world can be a cruel place.

 

So why make fun of them?  Why shame them?  Someone else will do it.

Why criticize them or judge them?  Someone else will do it.

 

Don’t want to hug them after they do something wrong?  Someone else will do it.

Don’t want to listen to how that party was?  Someone else will do it.

 

Can’t watch long enough to find out their interests?  Someone else will do it.

Can’t tell them “yes” to the little things?  Someone else will do it.

 

It could be a neighbor, a boyfriend, an aunt, a cult member, a predator, a step mother, a teacher, a cellmate, a girlfriend, a cousin, a baby, a pet, a friend down the street, a drug dealer, a grandparent.

So instead, listen to the bad.  Celebrate with the good.

Just be there for them.