Over the last couple of weeks I got to witness a lot of craziness that is part of the very high season here. The thing I took note of most was how parents and children were interacting with each other and over the last few weeks I have seen some awesome parenting and some parenting that left me furious. It's no secret I want a little one but I am also aware of the fact that I may have waited to long and may never get my wish. I think that's what some of what I witnessed got me so angry. I can't understand why parents who get so little time with their kids to begin with seem so bothered by them.
I covered in a previous post about what some of the very high season crowd looks like. It's the extraordinarily wealthy - people are dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars down to be here these two weeks. With the dive center a lot of times you get fathers wanting their kids to experience diving, and in many cases you are doing private trips with these folks so I really got to see some interesting interactions.
I'll start with the highlights - a family from NYC came and their 10 year old son wanted to try diving - neither parent had interest and the father actually told me when he dove last time it was a terrible experience and he didn't like it at all. But yet when his son did so well in the pool session and wanted to try it in the sea the dad didn't hesitate. So the dad, the grandfather and the little boy all came out together. It was a special day for them and I loved witnessing it. I loved that the dad focused on nothing but his son the whole time - following with a camera and diving even though it wasn't something he enjoyed - at the end he was happy because his son was happy and I would be willing to bet we see them next year.
Another family came back that I had met last year - father with four daughters and his wife. When they found out we got married everyone came back to pick up dad after his dive and sat around and chatted with us for a while. These two weeks you can tell are very special to these parents as their daughters are getting older. What I love most is that they always wanted to do as much together as a family as possible. I remarked to my husband that night how warm I found them.
Then there were a few that broke my heart. Fathers who would rather nap than take a walk on the beach with their sun. Parents saying "not now" because they were too busy trying to look fabulous and this small person was something the nanny should be dealing with - I actually overheard that comment. Father admonishing his son because he was scared of something his sister wasn't when the father was really only interested in his cell phone the whole time. Mothers complaining how "they need a break" as they are sitting with friends and ignoring their daughters.
For those of you who say I don't have a right to judge, you are right, I don't. But as someone who would give ANYTHING to be "annoyed" by my own child it's difficult to watch people who have been given this beautiful amazing gift to only look inconvenienced. Your child is a child for such a short period of time and you never know what life is going to bring you. All I know is if I am somehow lucky enough to be a parent, I hope I will be like mine - present whenever they need me and not like so many that unfortunately seem to be out there.
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