Parenting Softly

My husband and I watched from our deck this morning as a friend walked by and in hand with his two young children.  We knew they were probably off for a morning walk on the beach.  They greeted us and commented on the purple flowers growing on a trellis by the street.  The daughter who is about 6, was wearing a lovely long white dress (a "nylony" looking garment) and bright pink sparkly flats.  The little guy who is probably about 4, stooped down to probably scoop up some of the rocks near the trellis.  Our friend, very quietly reminded him that those were not his rocks and he should leave them where they were.  He used the same tone to his voice that he used when commenting on the flowers.  And his son indeed let thee rocks tumble out of his hand, they said goodbye to us, resumed holding hands and indeed walking down the street and up the beach path.  Did I mention that our friend's daughter was dressed in a long white dress with pink sparkly shoes?  My husband commented on how very cool it was that she was able to wear whatever she wanted to walk in the sand and perhaps even dip her feet (and therefore her dress, because it reached to her feet) in the lake.

Observing our friend, I immediately thought of the term "parenting softly".  On this morning, my friend embodied that kind of parenting.