If you are a parent, you probably are not going to like this post. However, I observed something today that confuses the heck out of me and I’m absolutely dying to understand it. And, for the record, my questions are really less about parenting and more about decision making.
Here is the scenario:
My community hosted a pre-Halloween trick-or-treat event today. What seemed to be thousands of moms (sorry, didn’t see any dads), strollers, and kids descended to partake of the festivities. Many of the merchants in the area participated by providing candy and other goodies for the kids.
This is not confusing. What was confusing was this:
Everyone involved looked miserable.
- The kids looked (and sounded) miserable because they were being dragged around in uncomfortable costumes for several hours to beg for candy from strangers and get their picture taken on strategically placed haystacks.
- The parents looked miserable because they were dragging around the aforementioned kids.
- And the merchants looked miserable because they had to stand outside handing out candy to very unhappy, screaming kids (and not making any money).
So, I suppose my questions are:
Why do we decide to force ourselves (and others) to do things we/they don’t want to do in the name of fun?
And, if no one is having fun, what is the point?
Filed under: Coaching, Decision Making Tagged: | Halloween, parenting, Santana Row, trick-or-treat
