U.S. Out Of Children's Lives

Larkin has been noticing more and more that the world is not always fair to kids.

After reading an alternative Cinderella story where her father is simply missing and presumed spineless: "Where's her father? Why isn't he standing up for her? It's not like he's dead or something."

In the grocery store check out line, observing a kid melting down: "Why won't his Mom buy him that candy bar? Look at all that stuff in their cart-- I think they can afford it! ...Can I buy it for him?"

Watching Jimmy Neutron: "Why do his parents keep telling him not to do stuff? It seems like they'd be happy that he likes doing super cool smart inventiony things."

At the park, watching another kid trying to get their parent's attention for a very long time while they were involved in a long conversation with no acknowledgment: "Let's go help her get down from the slide. It looks like her Mom is useless."

Also at the park, baby crying in a stroller, Mom chatting on cell phone: "That baby is crying. It needs to be picked up. It might be hungry or lonely... WHY ISN'T THAT LADY PICKING THAT BABY UP?!"

Watching "Max and Ruby," children's books turned television series in which their parents are inexplicably missing and Ruby takes care of her little brother: "Why does Ruby always try to control Max? It shouldn't matter to her what he wears or what games he plays. At least she reads him stories before bed and stuff."

On an unrelated note, our camera has been broken for a couple months, so I will do my best to go into a picture-taking frenzy when we have the situation remedied.