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Parental paradox

Sight seen on the same Red Line train:

A 40-ish dad taking his two young daughters to school at Northside Catholic Academy. One is in the first grade, the other probably a third grader. He plays with them both, tells jokes, laughs, and brushes their messy hair.

A very cool scene.

When they get off at Bryn Mawr, I see that they were blocking my view of an older woman, maybe 55, intently reading book. Right beside her in the aisle is a stroller holding a 2-year-old boy. She essentially ignores the toddler all the way to Addison, despite his attention-getting ploys -- like whining and putting his legs up on hers.

A very disturbing scene.

Comments

Don't be so quick to judge. There could have been any number of reasons for the woman to act that way that don't amount to some sort of neglect.

It doesn't have to be out-and-out neglect to be sad.

Toddlers are tough to pay attention to all of the time, but it's still nice to acknowledge their existance.

Maybe he was in a timeout.

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