Everyday Parent

I was taken with a newspaper article today about a mom who put her two daughters out on the curb and left them because they were fighting in the car as she made her way through traffic. She is being "talked about" like an abuser is talked about.
I remember growing up and hearing my mom and dad say, "If you two don't stop bickering, the car is going to be stopped and you can both walk home." In my imaginative memory, sometimes they did this to my sister and me. I'm not certain this memory is accurate. That's the way memory is sometimes.
When I drove my own children to school, we instituted a rule about talking in the car, particularly negative talking. There were many times when the threat of being put out of the car was uttered. There were other threats too, equally potentially abusive in today's world.
Isaih 3:12a mentions children as oppressors which of course they ARE!!! But we all take turns being oppressors, really, because children have no real voice, no matter how spoiled they are. But in Proverbs 22:6 we are instructed to raise children the way we want them to grow.
Making your way back home at 10 and 12 after screaming in the car is no big deal. Screaming in the car is not an option for people. The cars are lethal weapons after all, and we don't take this lightly, nor should we. There are other areas where some pretty strong actions could be taken to help a child grow straight and strong amidst a crooked, difficult world.
So my nominee for unsung hero/ine today is the Everyday Parent. The one on display every single minute and who is judged by the public at large. This public is certain that there is a better way than the way the viewed parent is handling a situation with children. To that mom who took an unpopular but firm choice, I raise a cup of tea, and I hope her children soon value their heroine as much as she merits, and then a bit extra just for love.