How Will They Remember Us

How will they remember us Those born after the war. What will they say about us. Will they fully grasp the level of our sell out Our denial of simple pleasures to our children, Not letting them know the joy of completing a task for themselves, Or understanding that sometimes all they needed was an empty box To set their imagination on fire. Deciding what they wanted even before they had worked out what to ask for. Giving them our money instead of our time. Not telling them something was wrong and then wondering Why they kept doing it. We made their world a giant fishbowl and invited others to watch them through the glass. We took away all their quiet spaces and made it open plan. Did we forget how important our thinking times were for working out if Something was a good idea or not. Some of us even took money to put them inside the TV to help sell insurance. Or worst of all Sticking them in front of the telly so we could throw discipline Out the window. What did we do with the handbook our parents gave us to pass on down through the generations. We were taught to nurture and mentor not to be their best friend. How did we become so blind, so quickly. We even gave them unfettered access to takeaways once we realised we could Save the hassle of home cooked meals. What will they say about us feeding their addictions and excusing it all by Saying 'oh they would get the mixers or the uppers or downers somewhere else. And how can we reconcile our denial of affection to such an extent that they Felt the need to seek it in all the wrong places with people without Conscience. But if all of this was not enough our biggest guilt was in not giving them the true meaning for the words we once lived by. Words like Integrity or Sacrifice. Yet for all our parenting mistakes if we had installed in them even a little Empathy we could have been their heroes still. But no, we compounded their fears by constantly reminding them how unsafe the world was. When did we decide to keep them dependent on us forever, not making plans To set them free. We decided in our collective wisdom that all the things we looked forward to we Should deny to them for their own good. And what about the next generation of workers we sold out. Took a backhander so the bosses could give them less than what we thought Was not enough. And the houses built of cardboard, we said would be fine for them, When we had real wood in ours. We even decided that we should all get into property speculation so they Could ever only rent. Is it any real surprise that now they are in charge that it has all hit the fan.