God help us, here come the helpers

My Gran used this phrase frequently. She had used it in the small Yorkshire village she was raised in. The phrase was deployed as the Salvation Army volunteers would come into town. I love it for many reasons. The reason I am choosing it here, is to frame the dilemma of how help is invited or imposed.

My wife was reading to our elder child in the library. Our youngest was getting up and down off a chair. My wife had her eye on the child in her peripheral vision. Another adult, hovered anxiously, looking as if she would get involved, unsure.

"she's practicing" said my wife.

The other adult looked uncertain but honoured the communication, giving our youngest the space to explore. Thankyou.

Within minutes, our youngest was eating play-doh. Another adult said out loud, "she's eating play-doh". My wife responded "not the worst thing she has eaten today".

The other adult stepped down slightly but did not disengage. I imagine they thought they knew better, or for whatever reason decided to stay involved. They continued to shake their head in disapproval to our child. Perhaps they thought they could persuade the child to stop. Instead our youngest (unused to irrelevant looks of disapproval) burst into tears. My wife came over to give her a hug. "God help us from the helpers" my Gran would have said.

I wonder if the other adult realised their impact or if they went away convinced the play-doh and the careless mother had made the child cry?