And you thought Scrooge only reared his ugly head at Christmastime.
Apparently, the grump works overtime in Colorado trying to turn young kids’ summer fun into a major summer bummer.
Just ask three-year-old Emerson Cohen.
The girl and her mom were recently thrust into the national media spotlight when they were cited for defacing property with sidewalk chalk.
As in the colorful writing instrument used by kids of all ages for outdoor summer fun.
That sidewalk chalk.
Sarah Cohen, Emerson’s mom, told local news reporters that she used the chalk to encourage her daughter to practice her penmanship outside of their home in the Denver neighborhood of Stapleton.
The mom says she was eager to have her daughter exercise her handwriting skills and soak up the summer sun at the same time.
Unfortunately, some folks living in the Cohen’s neighborhood weren’t happy with where young Emerson chose to scribble, and now they want to ban all children from coloring on their immaculate sidewalks with chalk.
“My initial reaction was, ‘You have to be kidding me,’” Cohen told the local CBS affiliate in Denver. “She’s not bothering anyone. It’s actually pretty neat — she’s learning how to spell her name.”
Sadly, it seems one child’s work of art is a bunch of stuffy adults’ graffiti.
Cohen’s neighborhood HOA told news reporters that sidewalk chalk designs, such as Emerson’s, turn the communal area into an eyesore.
But Emerson’s mom disagrees. While she acknowledges that she and her daughter live near a courtyard that is considered shared space, she refuses to recognize that her child’s simple pleasure of drawing with chalk is distracting or offensive.
“It’s summertime and God forbid my daughter is drawing flowers, her name and hearts,” said Cohen.
Cohen’s HOA maintains that since the area that Emerson is doodling is shared space, anything that “offends, disturbs or interferes with the peaceful enjoyment” isn’t allowed.
The doodling drama will reportedly be addressed at an upcoming meeting and it will be up to residents to ultimately decide whether or not sidewalk chalk can be used in the area.
Related Articles:
Can Parents Ever Get It Right?