As a child I walked to Elementary school from 1st to 5th grade. It didn't matter the weather, I never took the bus. It was about 1/2 a mile through our neighborhood.

One of the distractions on the way to school was a ditch about 10 feet wide and 50 feet long that always had standing water in it. In the summer it would be full of tadpoles and in the winter it would freeze over. It was only about 18 inches deep and if you broke through the ice you just got out and went to school wet. I fell though a few times.

One winter day, I was walking to school and there was a kid standing in the ditch up to his knees crying. "Get my mommy, get my mommy". At the time I was in 4th grade and he was in 5th. I wasn't going to get his mommy, i didn't even know where he lived. I told him to get out but he just kept crying. I continued on my way to school leaving him there to cry it out.

As a child I just considered the kid a cry baby but now that I have kids of my own I have thought more about what makes one kid pull himself out of the water and another stand there helplessly. I suspect the kid who was calling for his mommy had a very loving mother that was always there for him. Possibly an only child. I was one of 4 so obviously my mother wasn't overly available and thus you end up with very independent kids.