The Greek Chorus

The Greek Chorus doesn’t sit at our breakfast table, doesn’t attend our child’s teacher conferences or our family counseling sessions; yet, we often give them access to our control panel.

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The Onlookers take credit for the straight  A’s, the trophies, the merit scholarships.
Their children’s records are unblemished.

A tardy slip.
A library fine.
Nothing more.

And they stand back, looking you up and down and buzzing amongst themselves, playing judge and jury.  Like a Greek Chorus, they chime in with unsolicited opinions and advice.

Be firm.
Set limits.
Just say no and mean it.
Have you tried grounding him?

Their blame is palpable.
And you dutifully pick it up and drape it over your shoulders, cloaking yourself in the shame.

The unspoken message, of course, is this:
If you were doing your job, your child wouldn’t be in this mess.