NOCUOUS

January 23, 2010

Nocuous
\’nä-kye-wes\ adj : harmful*

At my place of employment, there are many many children; so many that it almost seems as though they are crawling out of the woodwork, (that in itself is harmful to my sanity). In addition to these little angels, are their babysitters, au pairs, grandmothers, cousins, older siblings, anyone watching them besides their mother or father. It is interesting to watch these children react to their primary caretaker with love and affection and almost repulsively look at their parents when told to stop hiding under the clothing rack.
We know of a multitude of things in the world that are nocuous to our children; strangers, sharp objects, no education, negligence, unhealthy balance of human interaction because of heavy reliance on television and other sorted electronics. Yet we cannot as a society possibly believe that having our child practically raised by someone other than ourselves is innocuous, can we? To have an important and well established career is great and well deserved in most instances, but isn’t it just as crucial to make sure our families are stable units, with children who learn to respect any adult figure and who can grow up knowing they have solid roots with parents who took them to the bathroom instead of the nanny?

* letter “e” is upside down producing sound of “uh”