What You May Have Missed About This Viral Meme

Memes are what make the world (or the Internet) go ’round. I love a good meme just as much as the next person, and I’m not one to get offended easily. Actually the meme below didn’t offend me at all, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

Looking beyond the picture, I see the reality of my household. My son has fine and gross motor delays and is unable to use most utensils. Peeling fruit is not on the horizon so far. Pre-peeled and packaged fruit would be a lifesaver in my house. Sure, I could easily peel an orange for my son, but at the age of 7 he wants to feel independent. Grabbing an orange himself, as little as that may seem, would give him a small sense of that. And I’m all for helping him build his independence in any way necessary.

Does that make me as lazy as this meme says? Maybe to some people. Does it look like I’m encouraging my child to be lazy and not work on his skills? Who knows. What I do know is he has occupational therapy and we work on things at home, but it all can’t be done overnight. All I can do is encourage people to look beyond a picture and realize that sometimes things aren’t as cut and dry at they may seem. Easy doesn’t have to mean lazy. If it improves the quality of life for one person, I can’t think of anything that is wrong with that.