To leash

Or not to leash. Incidentally, is it just me that wants to say that with a Sean Connery accent? Yes? Oh...ok...

Anyway, a few days ago, I saw a woman, probably around my age, with a baby and a toddler. The toddler had a kiddy-leash on him, and my first thoughts were "I need to go to Woolies to buy bananas."

I don't care if people choose to leash their kids. Frankly, I don't get why such a big huge fuss gets kicked up about it. Just like not all parents do time-outs, but instead sit down and explain why the Tot did something wrong, or not all parents just hand out toys, but expect the Tot to ask nicely and say thank you; not all parents are anti-leash.

I was leashed as a kid. Now, this was a few decades ago, and my Mom made it very clear that I was to stick to her side like scandal to a politician, but when you're that little, you literally have the attention span of a puppy. I dimly remember my thought processes being "Stay with Mommy...Stay with Mommy....TOYSTOYSTOYSTOYSTOYSTOYS!!!!" The leash was only necessary until I realised that staying with Mom is a good idea, since if I behave, I don't get The Look (TM). Anyone that has gotten The Look (TM) from my Mom knows what I'm talking about...

As any parent, babysitter, grandparent etc can tell you, toddlers are magicians. Conjurers. Sorcerers. Especially when your back is turned. You may turn for 3 seconds to grab the dried thyme, and ALAKAZAM! your toddler has disappeared. They're fast with those tiny little legs. There should be a Toddler Olympics...

And frankly, if you're a lone parent trying to do grocery shopping with two little ones, you need all the help you can get. You need to juggle your shopping list, your cart, your handbag (you never leave your handbag in your cart - asking for something to be stolen that way!), the bag with the things that toddlers need, plus the toddlers. You can't put both in the trolley, because you're doing a big monthly shop, and you can't just put one in the trolley seat because the other one will have a tantrum.

Not to mention that if your kid is leashed to you, it makes that much harder for someone to kidnap them. So don't make a big deal of it. Don't judge the mother or father with a leashed child.  At least they're trying, unlike that "I've given up" parent in the tinned goods aisle, with a little boy running around and nearly tripping people. You know the one. They look at you with empty, emotionless eyes because the nappy ads that showed kids being cute and giggly and well behaved right out of the uterus were all lies, and they either don't know how to reign their kid in, or just don't care to.