Disclaimer: The views in the following chapter are not meant to offend parents who use safety harnesses for their children.
Not So Bad
Ethan Delko, called "Etan" by his sister was fourteen days old today. His parents thought that just maybe Chloe was starting to think baby brothers weren't so bad. Occasionally one of them would hear her talking to Ethan, telling him a story or explaining a cartoon that was on the television. Once they weren't sure what she was watching but from where they were in the kitchen they heard "see dat, Etan? You tan't do dat. You get time-out over dere if you do."
The parents smiled. Chloe was giving her first piece of big sister advice to her brother, even if he didn't understand it. The girl wouldn't go near a dirty diaper to 'help' her parents but that was just fine. She didn't have to. It wasn't her job. Chloe did however seem to enjoy holding and feeding Ethan his bottle sometimes. Mom and Dad were now putting together plans for Chloe's birthday that was in six weeks. The first thing they arranged was that Paloma was going to look after Ethan at the party at Pavel and Chlorinda's on that day. It was Chloe's big day. She deserved to have mom and dad's attention, especially when her brother was still so new at the time of her birthday.
The sight of these on children, even if they were "disguised" with plush backpacks on the back annoyed him to the hilt.
No matter how you put it, it's a fuckin' leash, Eric thought seeing a toddler walking with her mother wearing a "safety harness." Eric always thought the safety of children was paramount long before he had become a parent himself. But a parent putting a child on a leash, for their own convenience, instead of teaching them to stay next to them was disgusting and just plain lazy. And what was more important? Keeping your eyes on your shopping bags or your child? He had said that much, but when Rachel's boys were toddlers she used "leashes" on them. Rachel had noticed his expression and asked him about it. He was honest with her. She told him when he had children when one was a toddler and other a baby, he would see things differently for sanity sake.
He didn't.
It was suggested only once when Chloe was two that he and Calleigh use a harness on her, by Speed. Eric had been telling his friend how the girl had liked to run and hide from them at the moment. A death glare quickly ceased that discussion.