Daily Misses the Opportunity

What do you expect? His mother looks twelve. Generalizations like this bother me. “I was a young mother,” I say. “I bet you were a better mother later,” she says. “No, I was not,” I tell her. “I was a good mother sooner. “You are an exception,” she says. “No, I am not,” I reply. I have gone a mere two steps when I hear another generalization queen say “She is probably set in her ways. She is old.” “I am old”, I remind her. “Am I set in my ways?” She laughs. “No, Caren you are not. You are the exception.” “But I am not the exception”, I tell her. “Some of the youngest people I know are More set in their ways than any of my friends, and we are all old.” She rolls her eyes, disbelieving me. “Do you have any suggestions for me?” Another adult asks me. “I am at the end of my rope. You know what this kind of child is like.” Yes, I do, because I know this child, well. He is sent to me daily. “Sorry,” I reply. “ I have no suggestions at all unless you want to have lunch with him and get to know him.” “I do not lunch with children,” she tells me. If she had one measly lunch with this child so she could see him not as a part of an imaginary group she has labelled in her head, but as an individual who has unique identities and talents and interests and hobbies she would never need another suggestion to help her with this child again. It saddens me that she misses this opportunity every day.