Why are we doing this to our children?

At Kiddie Disco they play this terrible, awful game called Pass the Present. All of the kids are forced to sit in a circle and pass around 2 or so presents while the music plays. When the music stops the child is then forced to pass the present one more time and watch their neighbor remove one layer of wrapping paper. Then the music starts again. This goes on and on until the present is finally revealed and "won" by the child who removed the last layer of paper. They do this twice in 3 hours. It's a good "lesson" for the kids the DJ says.

That, along with Bingo and two rounds of musical chairs had T and me wondering, "Where is the play? Where is the fun?" All I saw was competition - and a whole lot of losing. 

Why are we forcing disappointment and loss on our kids in order to educate them? Does life itself not provide enough of that on its own? Rejection, loss, failure, embarrassment - it's on the playground, in our homes, in our heads. It will find our children, that is something we can be certain of.

Whatever happened to just running, playing, dancing? Freedom. Innocence. 

Whatever happened to living life - and learning from it? I know in M & L's future there will be plenty of sitting. There will be plenty of waiting their turn. There will be plenty of working hard for something they want and not getting it. There will be plenty of pain, hurt, and tears.

I am not trying to shelter my children from any of that.

It's just...the sweet, true bliss of childhood is so brief. And I don't know, maybe we're all trying to prepare our children for that simple fact. One day they will have to grow up. 

But in doing that, doesn't anyone see...

We're rushing it.