Feb
28
You know you’re a real grown-up when you’re so draggin-ass tired you fall asleep on the couch and there’s no one to carry you up to bed. In fact, you not only have to take yourself upstairs, but also two smalls humans, a cat and your heating pad. And the stuff that keeps you up at night are things like that jerk who reprimanded your daughter right in front of you when HELLLOOOO! I’m her mom. I WILL TAKE CARE OF MY CHILD. If you have a problem with her behavior, the appropriate thing is to TAKE IT UP WITH ME.
Consequently, it seems like the people who think it’s okay to reprimand other people’s children right in front of them tend to be clueless about their own. Go ahead and chastise my daughter for picking her nose while yours is eating her own boogers. Yeah, you’re better than me. Perhaps it’s because it happens to them – people jump in to parent their children – and that’s where they began to think it was okay to be a-holes. I have news: IT IS NOT.
My loathing for people like this is equal to the depth of my love for The Joker by The Steve Miller Band.
The same goes for unreliable people who act like I’m the unreliable one. Please do not judge me for your shortcomings.
Oh, and beat-around-the-bushers. Spit it out for the love of cookies. If you don’t have the cajones to say what you want to say, swallow it. I don’t have time to decode your mystery message.
Now I feel compelled to show you the videos I’ve made for our playgroup over the past three years. But I can’t because I haven’t asked permission. So I just watched them and cried because I love them so much. Also because the lady waxed my eyebrows a little too much today and I look perpetually surprised.
I’m going to go eat a doughnut and some sweet gherkin pickles.
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This is a tough one for me, I guess it depends on your definition of reprimand … one day recently Audrey (age 4) and I are standing in the hallway outside her preschool class waiting for the changing of the guard (all the 3 yo have to be let out to their parents before big kids can come in). There are a lot of parents milling, a lot of 4/5 yo running around. Everything is a quiet chaos. And then some girl comes running by and slams into Audrey. I look around, no one comes to the other girl. No one says anything. I watch. Audrey seems fine. I wait. As we’re allowed into the class the little slammer girl is standing right by Audrey and I say to her, you know you hurt Audrey when you ran into her - I think you should apologize. She did. I thought that was the end of it.
The girl’s mother follows me into the classroom and pulls her phone away from her head long enough to tell me that if I have a problem with her kid I should tell her. I said I would have if a) I knew who the kid’s mom was and b) if she hadn’t been on the phone because I am not so rude as to interrupt someone’s phone call.
So - did I reprimand? I don’t think so. Audrey needed to see that her mom is in her corner. And honestly, I think it takes a village to raise a child. Also? If that mom is so concerned about other people telling her child to act responsibly then she should get off the phone and parent.
If I’m at the park and I see a kid doing something dangerous I’m likely to shout out “hey! be careful” or “please don’t throw rocks” in hopes that it’ll get the appropriate parent’s attention. But if after repeated “hey don’t throw rocks, that’s not friendly” there’s no response and my kid is getting hurt? You better believe I’ll talk to the kid.
I agree with you - if a child is doing something dangerous or destructive, as an adult we have a responsibility to protect them, whether they belong to us or not. And if a child hurt me or my child, I think it’s appropriate to respond, like you did when a child ran into yours. Part of sharing the world with other people is interacting with them. I don’t think we do anyone favors when we let them skip out on the consequences of their actions, whether they’re a kid or an adult. I don’t think that’s reprimanding.
Here’s where I have an issue: when someone reacts to my child in a way that is not okay. Yelling at my child is not okay. Attemping to punish my child is not okay. Being severe with my child because you don’t think I’m being hard enough is not okay.
Parents like that drive me crazy. Another thing that has been driving me crazy are parents who let their kids cut in line. Happens every morning when my kids wait for the bus.
Man…what a time for you! Yeah, I hate when people reprimand my kid in front of me. That’s crazy! I’m right here…what the heck! I’m only going to reprimand a kid if he’s hitting my kid or pushing them down the stairs and the mother is on the cellphone, which is what happened to me a couple of summers ago when some little brat pushed my kid down the stairs and his mommy just kept chatting away on the phone.
“Oh, and beat-around-the-bushers. Spit it out for the love of cookies. If you don’t have the cajones to say what you want to say, swallow it. I don’t have time to decode your mystery message.”
OMG I can relate to all of this… but especially THIS part. Then again… I’m pregnant too. Coincidence? ^_~
I’m not pregnant, but I’m standing with you in solidarity!