Golden One wrote:
> On Oct 28, 4:14 am, "gloria.p" > wrote:
>> sf wrote:
>>
>>> Huh. I haven't even thought about mail theft in years.
>> When we lived in RI in the early 80s there were two brothers in
>> the neighborhood, ages 4 and 6 or thereabouts, who would break
>> into the cluster boxes we had. They'd tear up the mail and throw
>> it around on the street. When a postal inspector visited their
>> house, Idiot Mother's response was "Well, what do you want ME to
>> do about it. Lock them up, why don't you."
>>
>
> What on earth was she doing letting children that age out to play
> unsupervised?
>
> This is the sort of mother who would then be looking for someone to
> blame for everything else.
>
> JB

Pretty much. The neighborhood of 50 houses fronted onto a
two-lane country highway. Once you got beyond the
front houses, it was an ideal neighborhood for kids to play.
Surrounding the neighborhood on three sides were fields and
woods. Most of the families were friends and we looked out
for one another's kids.

The mother mentioned was overwhelmed and not the brightest bulb
in the chandelier. We tried to keep an eye on their younger boys
but it was hard because they evidently had no rules or structure
in their house. They ate lunch with us occasionally, other times
I'd see one or the other immediately after the kindergarten bus
dropped off the neighborhood kids. Everyone else would be getting
ready for lunch. They'd be wandering around, eating out of a big
box of Cheerios or a bag of chips.

This was in the mid-late 70s and early 80s. There was always one
"L." kid or other in trouble at school or with the law. Child
Protective Services had their hands full with the cities. Us
rural folk and our kids were on our own.

gloria p