Sensitive Little Boy

Shane wanted to pick flowers today- but not "candy lions" (dandelions). I told him he needed a reason- like to give them to somebody, so he picked out 2 of his favorite moms that weren't his own and the hunt started. Our rules were pretty simple
- no dandelions
- to picking from someone's private garden
- only pick where there was "enough", as in a large patch
- no more than 6 from each spot, depending on how big the flower bed was.
Shane had a rule of his own...
- BY HIMSELF; no mommy help allowed

The first couple spots went great. Shane stuck with the number limit I gave him, no arguing or whining. Austin was asleep so that didn't complicate things. A few daffodils here, some tulips there.
At our 3rd stop, there was trouble. The only parking spot at the Pioneer Home was across the street, so I walked him over, let him go, and went back to watch and wait by the car. He had a 4 flower limit- and they had a huge garden. 2 years ago, when we first moved here, we'd asked once if we could pick a flower and the folks inside said they didn't care- so long as we didn't leave bare patches; so we didn't ask this time.
Shane was on his 3rd flower- I had just noticed that I was going to have to discuss perfection picking with him (picking a flower, deciding it's not good enough, and discarding it to die) when he threw down his flower and collapsed on the grass howling. I wasn't sure if he'd gotten frustrated at the flower or had been stung by a bee!
I ran and got him and his flower quota (amid the tears he was concerned he didn't get all 4- so we picked up the ones he'd dropped or discarded) and got him back to the car. It took a while to get the story out of him... Some guy walking by had told him he couldn't pick the flowers. Not an employee, or anyone that had a say, just some guy- maybe a parent from the preschool that is right there. That one comment dissolved Shane into tears. It took a half hour of driving and talking before he had calmed down, and was ready to pick any more flowers- elsewhere.
Seriously Mister- the intracacies of flower picking ettiquite is NOT your business when it comes to my kid!