The Innocence of Young Ones

Okay, at this point in time I don't have any young children at home, but I do have young grandchildren.

I also have a puppy. She is now about nine months old, but still so innocent. Just like a young child. She is (and will be) a small dog. She is a purebred Welsh Corgi. The heart of a lion, but the size of a large kitty cat.

So innocent.

She has no idea that there are coyotees here that would, in an instant, have her for a snack. It's so much about my earlier blog about the cougar at the door.

And, you with young children, they are so innocent. The internet is sooooo big. And has so much potential for danger. Just looking at My Space and seeing all the danger that someone young and innocent would have no idea of the dangers.

Back to the puppy. She just loves being outside. When all the other dogs come inside she wants to be outside by herself. She has no idea that just this week, twice, I have seen coyotees within 200 feet of our house. Coyotees between our house and where she has been zooming around, all by herself, by the horse pens.

She is just a dog. Yes, a very special dog. Yes, a very big part of this family. A dog who was rescued from a shelter. Who, by chance, was just dropped off at the shelter when I showed up to drop off some checks.

I stay away from the shelter as much as I can so I don't get soft and adopt every dog I see. But, that day, she was there. The people relinquishing her hadn't even left yet. I walked in at just the wrong time, or as I see it now, just the right time. She IS a SPECIAL dog.

But, she has no idea of the dangers of this place. Just like a young, innocent child. No concept of the dangers of this world.

I remember when my children were young. At that time a movie had just come out about a young boy who had been abducted. "Stephen?" I have tried to block it out, but at that time I made a very big point of making my two children watch it and then had many conversations about that movie.

Years later, my son told me he had been very scared from watching the movie. He questioned as to why I made him watch it. He was so young and innocent. Why would a mom intentionally make her child fear people?

Why would a mom intentionally take away that innocence? It is so precious. The child with no fear of this world. No fear. If only we could all live with that same innocence and not be taken advantage of.

That brings me to another side of this. Senior citizens. They are also taken advantage of. They grew up in a world of trust. The hand shake to seal a contract. But that is not the way it is today. The world has changed. Not for the better. Today we all have to take precautions. We all have to be careful. As HubbyHoney says, "Trust but verify." Ronald Reagan?

Just to say, no matter how much our young puppy wants out to go play, how cute she is zooming around with no idea of any dangers, she must always be watched over and protected. Children you can only protect for a short while. They will eventually go out into the world on their own. You can only hope that while they were in your control you taught them the things that will protect them and get them by in this world.

Pretty much, it's all a matter of prayer. You can only do what you feel is best, then it's out of your hands. I pray for my adult children daily.