Hope for the Future
June Jenkinson
Sometimes in the hustle of daily life, with newspaper accounts of horrendous happenings, rapes, murders, robberies, etc. one wonders if the world will ever be a peaceful place to live. Children seem to be neglected, not by choice, but by necessity, and our world seems to be paying for it.
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to accompany my husband on a four-day business trip to Orlando, Florida, staying at the Disneyland Hotel.
Our trip to Florida began at 4:00 a.m. boarding a plane at 6:30 a.m. for what was to be a simple trip. Our plane experienced some problems and we were delayed leaving Toronto which meant our connections in Nashville were missed. We were re-routed on another plane to Miami, and another plane to Orlando -- not arriving until 5:00 p.m.
The next three days were filled with many experiences, visiting Disneyland's addition, Universal Studios, where we were swept back in time and behind the scenes of the many movies and television sets. The Disney Village was within walking distance of our hotel and we visited the many shops which are filled with the most intriguing Disney memorables one could possibly imagine. The Christmas store would make any child truly believe in magical happenings.
On the plane ride home, which was uneventful, it suddenly occurred to me that something was different from any other visit I had made to Florida.
I had been on five different planes which were filled with small children, visited one of the busiest places in the world where children are everywhere and I noticed one very significant thing. I had not heard one child cry from being slapped, had not heard one parent yelling at their child, and did not feel as though children were being treated any differently than adults. Most of all, I noticed the fathers. They were wonderful. At the Disney Village store, I remembered one father crouched down, talking to his little girl outside the Christmas store, explaining in a very gentle and caring way that they would like to buy her all the beautiful things in that store but simply could not afford the money. She seemed to accept his explanation.
We had dinner in a very crowded restaurant one evening, and behind us was a table for 10: 6 adults and 4 children. We marvelled how quiet and behaved the children were -- not because they were like threatened robots, but because the parents were busy entertaining them. They had colouring books and crayons and were chatting amongst themselves, but not loudly and in an attention-getting manner. One Dad in particular caught my eye. He had a small child, perhaps 15 months, in a highchair beside him. He spent his time talking to and entertaining this boy with a love in his eye that you could almost feel. At one point, the baby started to cry and he quickly exchanged water glasses with him and the child stopped. It was amazing. No one slapped or screamed at these children. It all seemed so natural.
On the plane ride home, we were one of the first people boarded. There were so many children boarding the plane that I kept thinking this was going to be a long ride home with noisy children. To my surprise, there was very little confusion or disruption. Parents were busy entertaining their offspring and gently talking and reading to them. One family in particular was sitting directly opposite us. The father had one of the children and the mother had the other child near the back of the plane. They exchanged conversations a few times during the flight, but what struck me most was the father. He was so at ease with this child and so sensible and so understanding.
Ten years ago, it would have been the father saying "keep these children quiet", mother rattled because of the impossibility of it, and in the confusion a cranky and crying child. Today's parents are luckier than we were. They have TWO parents raising the children, and as a result seem to be benefiting from this new phenomena. I was really impressed with the care given by the parents.
The last, but certainly not least, impressive event was the
number of babies being breast-fed in public places. It seemed
so natural. One woman was sitting in the floor in a crowded
washroom, gently rubbing her baby's head while she breast-fed
her baby. No one hardly noticed her. It just seemed the "right"
thing to be doing.