Some moments shouldn't be shared.

This post is sure to make me a lot of enemies, but so what. I really hate these news stories where a military parent home from Iraq surprises his or her child at school. Yes, it's great to see the kid's delight at realizing that his mother or father has come home. And, yes, it's nice to see all the other kids gather around the returning hero. But there's something about it that seems self-centered and grandstanding, making it slightly less obnoxious than the "creative" marriage proposal and making it more of a showcase for the parent than the often self-conscious chid. I also wonder how many parents, relatives, friends and children whose loved ones will not be coming home because they were killed in the war see these sentimental reports and feel more bereft than ever.

This response was sent to me in an e-mail not as a comment, which is why I include it here.

I couldn't agree more and this really touched a nerve. I would add that when young children are reunited with a parent after months of separation, it is often a time of very raw and mixed emotions. We have become voyeurs of people's most intimate emotional moments. These reunions are, in my humble opinion, a perfect example of what should remain an intimate, rather than public, experience. It would protect the affected child's dignity, as well as the dignity of other children and families who may be less fortunate.


Note: I find the "soldier in a box" clip shown here particularly insipid, and must say the child did not show the same kind of enthusiasm one sees in the 600 other schoolroom surprises.