Really? In this day and age?

My son and I are driving along today, happily singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" as I see a man going for a walk with a stroller.  It was a double stroller that looked really cool.  That's actually what got my attention at first.  Oh how times change!  It was the stroller, not the dude, that I noticed first!

In this cool double stroller is an infant carrier and a toddler.  They are waiting to cross the street; I'm at the light.  As I'm checking out the stroller configuration, I notice that the dad is smoking.  Yes, smoking. His hand is on the handle, thus, the cigarette is about a foot away from the infant carrier, thus about a foot away from the infant.

It's hard for me to get my head around it, that in this day and age, people still smoke near kids.  I remember back in the day of my childhood when everyone smoked.  I have vivid memories of an occasional cigarette burn because I moved in too quickly for a hug from my Dad.  No big deal, just brush it off, then get the hug!

We have neighbors/friends at our cabin who have never held our now 19-month old son.  They epitomize the definition of chain-smokers.  They smoke when they have a cold.  They smoke in the morning.  They truly smoke all day long.  We don't go in their house anymore - we won't take our son inside.  We visit with them in the great outdoors.  They understand and respect our wishes to not have our son in a smoky environment.  

I also realize that I'm more than a little jaded now.  It was barely a year ago that my Dad (who hadn't smoked for the better part of 25 years) lost his battle with lung cancer.  

But, we now know that smoking is actually bad for us.  To see a person walking with a child, or worse yet, driving with a child and a cigarette in hand is nothing short of appalling shocking.

Aren't we are supposed to do everything in our power to protect our children from any evil ways of the world? They'll figure them out or read about them eventually ... but to knowingly put them in harm's way? Really?  In this day and age?

  
Now, I don't live under a rock, I get it.  People smoke.  It probably isn't any of my business.  I don't mean to sound "preachy" , hell, back when I thought I was cool, I'd occasionally light up at a bar.  But, remember, I'm no longer 'cool' ... and I'm totally fine with that.

This is an original post to Rocky Mountain Mom's Blog.  When Mandi is not smoking, she can be found heard singing Twinkle Twinkle with her 19-month old son.