Today Lyla and I were browsing Target, just for giggles, when I witnessed something that disturbed me. There was a little boy between 8 and 10 if I had to guess an age. He was intently looking at Legos. His flustered mother grabbed him by the arm and dragged him from the toy department. I wanted to take a photo of it, but I could not get my camera out in time. She said, “If you want to grow up you have to quit playing with toys.”

So sad. Why rush your children in growing up? That kid could be the next lead designer at Lego, but not if his interests aren’t encouraged by his parents. I know that I only saw a brief window into their lives, but what I saw wasn’t what I want for Lyla. This is what we do when we go to Target with no reason:

She rides bikes all through the store. Doesn’t bother me. She loves to look at dolls as well as Lego. She looked at the Star Wars toys, and walked around with a stuffed R2-D2. I’ve always said the list of things I will refuse to support Lyla doing is very short.

Disappointment = wanting kids to grow up.