I’m usually perfectly fine with taking both girls to the mall by myself. I have the double stroller, I bribe them with chick-fil-a, I’ve got a plan. But today, today went south quick. I had just gotten to the shoe department at Nordstrom to try and find Sam some back to school shoes (great sale btw, 50% off some nice shoes) & decided I’d let Soph out of the stroller since she had met her restrained time limit. I thought, quite foolishly, that she & Sam would just look at the fish tank or maybe the sparkly shoes & just be good little girls while I shopped. WRONG. Sophie quickly decided it was hilarious to crawl off as quickly as possible while Sam chose to model every single pink glittered shoe in the entire department. Of which there are far more than you’d think.
Between grabbing Sophie out from underneath shopper’s feet (who gave me the death stare of HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR BABY CRAWL ON THIS DIRTY FLOOR & counting to 3 more times than I care to admit to get Samantha to stop taking out all the shoes, I was already putting myself in the middle of the ‘look at that crazy woman, she can’t get control of her kids’ spotlight. Then on top of it all the smell of fresh poop began the weave it’s way into the air. The source, of course, was my kid.
A few minutes before I had splurged & bought myself a chocolate shake from chick-fil-a because whenever I get a sore throat that is my go-to comfort. After I realized that I was going to have to drop everything, pack the kids up & truck off to find a changing room I decided to take one last slurp of my shake. Somehow my thumb went right through the styrofoam cup, the top popped off & the shake exploded EVERYWHERE. All over me, all over Sophie & the best part, all over the shoe display. I was frozen in shock. I mean, SERIOUSLY?! REALLY!?? But you know what the worst part was? The disgusted looks the other two moms gave me. Oh, I’m sorry, you’ve never had a bad day? You’re kids have never tag-teamed in trying to drive YOU crazy?!! I doubt that. The little red-headed one looks pretty darn malicious to me.
What I want to know is why do moms judge eachother so harshly? You’d think if anyone was going to be sympathetic it’d be another mother but in reality they’re the worst critics of them all.
I’m quite certain that if I’m honest with myself I’ve rolled my eyes at a kid who was acting like a nutjob or maybe a mom who was dropping things everyhwere because she had one kid tucked under her arm football style & was dragging another behind her. Is it because we don’t want to face that what we’re actually witnessing is a reflection of us on our bad days? Perhaps denial at it’s finest? Or maybe it’s the grade school antic of making others feel bad so you can feel better about yourself. Whatever the case, if we as women who have been through the same journey of motherhood can’t take care of eachother then who the heck will?
After I realized everyone was staring at me & I was dripping in chocolate shake I looked at my surroundings & thought, what the hell. If they’re already going to condemn me then why not give them something good to judge. So I took out my cell phone & began photographing the whole thing.
If nothing else might as well get a blog post out of it, right? I was going to put up a DIY for making a super cute neon bracelet out of hardware supplies but instead I’m going to try & forget my morning by wasting my brain cells away on Pinterest.
So we know misery loves company, when was the last time your kids embarrassed you?
lol to what you tagged this as, Sam in her princess dress, and Soph looking so happy like “what just happened?!” I just bought a pair of Stride Rites from Nordstrom, for $50! Geez. You’re so right about the judgment. Hope the long weekend cheers you up!
The shoes I got were stride rites, for $16!!!! I guess that was the good part (:
I am not a mother (yet) but this story made me laugh and defiantly made my Friday. I have 3 adorable nieces (4 ½, 2 ½ and 14 months) so I know what you and my sister both go through trying to get out of the house and venture to the mall. Needless to say my sister doesn’t get out much unless she has back up with her sister (me) or her sister-in-laws.
This counts for a new purse or new shoes…..cough out the money KANE! =)
Oh and btw this is defiantly the CURSE OF SARAHS BAG!!!!
Happy Friday Natasha and Labor day weekend
LOL, awful day for sure but it made for an amusing blog post and ‘I’ve been there’ thoughts 🙂 I can’t really think of the last time my kids embarrassed me specifically- probably because they do it on a regular basis.
I don’t really understand why moms come down on each other so hard- and I’ve been guilty of the eye raising at other moms. You’re probably right- we want to (on some level) make ourselves feel better.
I’ll never forget one time during my ‘bad’ (PPD) period, both kids were flipping out as I was trying to check out- the baby especially was SCREAMING in the cart- and I was getting looks from everyone, including the cashier. I was so close to just crying right there in the store. There was a man in front of me, and I thought for sure he was getting ready to give me a snarky comment when he was finished checking out- but instead asked me if I needed any help or there was anything he could do, because he knew how hard it was. That meant so much to me at the time, just that someone understood what I was going through. I really try hard now to remember that when I see other moms overwhelmed. It’s so easy to forget that we’ve all been there.
See, the first thing I would have done is asked if you needed help. Because, minus the crappy milk shake part, I’ve been there (one example, at the zoo, the 1.5 year old kicking me and screaming bloody murder as I was carrying her to the car – like I am abducting her or something).
Though, that 1.5 year old (who is potty trained and wears underwear) has gone to the bathroom on a rug at Crate and Barrel (while laughing – Ha ha ha, you won’t let me climb on furniture – I ‘ll show you). Kids really will kill you.
Thanks for an honest blog post. I love that you took photos!!!!!
I’ve never posted a comment to a blog before but after reading your post, I just HAD to.
I have to say that for the most part, my 3-year old’s shannagans don’t embarrass me much in public, I have a bad case of the “I don’t care what you think”…LOL but my husband is another story. He is convinced it is only OUR kid that causes commotion in stores and restaraunts. I’m defintely going to have him read this post tonight 🙂
I do know exactly what you mean about other moms though. I mean who HASN’T been keenly aware of their stinkly pants child in a store? My child will be an angel at home and then when you step through the sliding doors of a department store….BAM…the crazy kid takes over. I’ve noticed the looks and the stares, I just don’t pay much attention to them. Any mom (or not mom) that wants to try my 3-year old for a day to see how much better they can do? Knock yourself out! I dare you! 🙂 In the meantime, this was a great post to remind us all that a smile and a kind word or an offer of help can go a long way to making someone’s day a little better.
Chin up girlfriend!! You’ll remember this story and laugh…..in a few years anyway!
I’m not a mother either, but I really have to applaud you. The mothers that I judge are the ones that let their kids run wild while doing absolutely nothing. I do not judge the mothers who are trying very hard to control their children. People can only do so much and children will do what they want and of course there are days where life is just against you. So many moms definitely need more than just 2 arms. I probably would have asked if you need help. Like I’ll clean up the shake or something while you go off to do poo duty. This post makes me laugh, because I blame the curse of the big girl bag as well. lol.
we’re new members at a country club (very la di da for a simple girl like me – I don’t even know how to golf). got a great deal on a one-year membership. hubs loves the course, great pool for the girls to learn to swim, we all love it, making good impressions, yada yada.
my. kid. poops. in. the. pool. (more than once).
I just died.
omg…that was one funny story..and I must admit that I probably would have been staring at you and saying to my eslf “wow”..lol..but now I’m thinking why would I have done that..instead my new outlook will be to offer help 🙂 great pots btw and I hope you have a great holiday weekend 🙂
My 2 year old has this love for the swings in our local park she would happily sit for hours in them and not share but just sit and enjoy the feel of the wind in her face I guess lol…but when it comes time to go home she goes into a total and complete tantrum. My husband and I believe in the sitting out or sitting in a corner rule neither of us agree with smacking at all (each to their own though not judging etc) BUT for some reason my daughter gets it into her head to start screaming at the top of her lungs amongst all the yummy mummies in the park “NO MUMMY STOP…DON’T HURT ME!” much to my horror and then shouts even louder “Don’t smack me!!!!” So while I haven’t spilt milkshake I do know how you feel…and I turn around to those smug little women and just smile at them because their time will come sooner or later lol It makes the good days so much better though doesn’t it when something thsi bad happens. Great deal on the shoes though well done! I miss Nordstroms we don’t have it over here in the UK 🙁 at least not where we live anyways. Have a great weekend. xxM
Oh my goodness how awful/hilarious. I saw the picture you posted yesterday on Twitter but didn’t know the story behind it. Man oh man do I understand where you are coming from. Granted I only have one child who will be 3 next week so I couldn’t imagine what its like with 2. I cant say i’ve had one quite like yours but I have had several where she just goes crazy when we are in the mall or in public and I don’t know what’s going on with her. I also say its because we don’t let her out too often. I rarely take her to the mall or grocery store by myself because of the hard time she gives me. The crazy thing is when its just her and daddy she is the perfect angel, but with me she is a little monster! Whenever she acts out in public I usually will pinch her leg or something so she knows to calm down. Well I definitely can’t do that anymore because she now will scream “Ow mommy stop hurting me.” So yea you gotta love kids. I love how you just said screw it and took the pics anyway. Very classy!
Oh gosh! This takes me back to the years that I worked retail and a kids store before i had my daughter. You are not even close to deserving the “evil eye” from me at least! The moms that I tend to glare at are the ones who are totally ignoring their kids (and their antics) while they are shopping. You’ve probably seen the kid in the window knocking down the mannequins, or the one making puddles under the water fountain, or my personal favorite, the children playing with the lotion “samples”. One time I had a little girl (maybe 4-5ish) come up to me covered head to toe in more than half a bottle of lotion! Guess where mommy was . . . In the fitting room of all places! So as long as you are at least attempting to corral them, you get an A+ in my book. (You could have had me for a kid. My mom likes to tell the story of how she left an entire cart of groceries sitting in the aisle because I was screaming “No Mommy! Don’t kill me!” I can only imagine what I’m in for down the road ; )
I love that Samantha just has this look like “What? I’m just trying on some shoes.”
aw man, lol. I can’t think of any mall stories really, my kids are totally the opposite. They act like the devil himself is possessing them some days when we’re at home, but out and about they are generally just plain angelic. So then I look like I’m just a dramatic whiner. HOWEVER. at church, we have had a few good ones. Like one week Nicole just kept being disruptive and I had enough and took her out, she yells, “NO! NO! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!” as I drag her out. Half the congregation was just shaking with laughter. Or when I was saying to my mom, who can’t attend because of allergies but gets a live broadcast, “I think though that I’m probably just self conscious about it, I bet nobody even notices.” and she’s like, “Oh, no, dear, I hear it over the internet every time you take her out.” Well thanks mom.
Generally when I see a parent walk by with a screaming kid or something I tend to give them a sympathetic/encouraging smile.
You SO would’ve had my sympathetic eyes had I been there! (By the way, your post title had me CRACKING up…best one I’ve seen in a while!) Hope your sore throat feels better soon, despite being deprived the majority of your milkshake (at least, judging by the photo).
Look on the bright side- at least it was Nordstrom where customer service is their saving grace.
You’re definitely not alone, and I too don’t get why women judge each other so harshly.
Have an amazing long weekend!
So have been there! My boys are about the same ages as your girls. They had a melt down in the check out of the groccery store thus week. DS1 decided to take down all the giftcards while we were waiting in line. It was the slowest cashier ever. DS2 starts trying to climb out of the cart. And to top it off, while I was paying DS1 decides he want to try to push the cart out the door with DS2 in it.
I began reading your blog about 6 months ago and have never left a comment but this post is just so deserving of one. thank you. I just left the grocery store today with my toddler and another mom says “sounds like he needs a nap”.. no lady he’s just a fussy one.. he’s good but thanks for the advice. i hate feeling like ppl are staring at me and it makes it even worse when you have children. GOOD FOR YOU for pulling out your camera. we could be bff’s. you’re a great mom.
Don’t know if you saw my tweet yesterday but seriously, but my children were a complete and utter embarrassment in Target yesterday. They are usually pretty well behaved when I take them out. My youngest started crying the moment we walked in and saw the food court because apparently he was suddenly starving. He screamed “No” at my mother so loud that his face was blood red and veins were popping out! My oldest started demanding quite rudely that he have some cookies. He was completely disrespectful which is more embarrassing than anything. To top it all off he was rude and yelled at the little girl in line behind us who was being quiet and not bothering anyone. After a nasty apology, but an apology nonetheless, I just walked out with my tail between my legs. Not. A. Good. Day.
you are not alone, and I do believe the best part of this story is that you took pictures! Mostly would think ‘glad that’s not me’ and then of course, it would be me-just on another day! It happens to the best and the worst! On the other hand, since you did take pics, I see your stroller is a double one? what kind is it if you dont mind me asking, are they seated back to back??
Thanks!
Only thing that was bad, really, about your story was a wasted milkshake on Nordstrom’s floor!
It’s a Joovy & IT IS AWESOME! I had bought the Britax double which was stupid expensive, terribly heavy & hard to use. I returned & got the Joovy for a 1/3 of the price. LOVE it!
Thanks 🙂 Dont have a second one {yet} but my sister has double and I did not like it! Knew there had to be something better out there!!!
When was the last time my kids embarrassed me? Hmmm let me think. Oh, I know! Today. In Nordstrom. In the shoe department, except it was the adult one because I smoked crack before I went to the mall and actually thought I would be able to try something on! Ha! Too bad we are in different states or we could have been there for each other 🙂
ps. we could have also helped clean up each other’s messes (you-milkshake, me- a bag of chips, a.k.a my son’s lunch) Now all the moms can collectively judge me.
I can completely relate to this blog post, and I am sorry that it happened to you. The one time that my kids embarrassed me and people would not stop staring was at Panera Bread. I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old. After ordering our food, I found a table right by the drinks. I sat them at the table while I filled the drinks, and next thing I know, the table was flipped over!! My kids had been leaning on it, and thankfully they were not hurt when it flipped over. The whole restaurant froze, and everyone kept staring. No one got up to help me or see if they were okay, they just stared. We did not have our food, so there was nothing on the floor, thankfully, I can’t imagine the looks I would have gotten for that. I moved my kids to a booth to make sure we were in a more secure spot, but as we sat there and started eating, people were STILL staring at me, like I was this horrible mother. It was really annoying, and I ended up just packing up our food and left. I felt just like you, these people act like they have never had their children do something wrong. Oh well, I guess it is best to not worry about it 🙂 Hope you have a great weekend!
I find the ones who look disapprovingly at the kids when they have kicked off are people without kids who don’t know and old people (esp women) who have forgotten what brats they can be. I’ve found and feel I’m part of a secret society where we all look out for each other and help out because tomorrow it could be you! I’ve had people lend me nappies, wipes, toys, pens & paper etc to help me out and I’ve done the same in return. At times when my kids are human and I take a look around and see a parent with the child-from-hell I try to find a little something that will aid them because I know full well the red-cheeked-shame of yelling at your kids in public, dragging them from whatever inappropriate activity they have been engaged in, never mind trying a time-out in public! Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, so let me help you because I know I’ve been helped in the past. And when I’m old and grey (well older and greyer!) I shall look at the young parents in the supermarket, street, park etc and remember ‘Once upon a time that was me, and believe me, my kids were worse!’ I hope!
first of all – i was in the nordy shoe department at 2pm yesterday and there was no evidence of a spilled milkshake (if that makes you feel any better)…but those judgemental moms were still there. i hadn’t been to the mall in a LONG time (i’ve become slightly obsessed with online shopping) but got out of work early and thought, why not? i just couldn’t get over the annoyance of the moms in there giving dirty looks because i was walking in their path and not moving out of the way for their children. needless to say, i won’t be going back soon. i’ll stick to my handy dandy dell.
my embarrassing moment….it wasn’t in front of a lot of people….but i was day 8 into my new role of a mother and preparing my son for his bris. he was being “examined” by the mohel, when he started to have a blow out….first i was questioned by the mohel – what have you eaten? mexican? indian? greek food? anything spicy? on and on and on….i stumbled over my words and told him i had mexican the day before – he then said, NO MEXICAN for you. um, who died and made you the soup nazi?
as the flow of yellow seeded poop (sorry for the visual, it’s relevant, i swear) slowly came to a stop, i walked behind my son, who was being cleaned up by the mohel to double check this dude was cleaning everything off when it happened.
a fire hydrant of poop was turned on and my kid projectile pooped 3 feet….all down the front of my dress, my hands, my legs. it was EVERYWHERE. there were gasps from my husband, brother and sister-in-law…i was about to walk out in front of 80 (yes, we had 80 people at his bris….don’t ask) people – with no back up clothes for me and no time to contain my emotions….
luckily i was breastfeeding and it didn’t smell. luckily my brother sprung into action and wisked me away into the bathroom. and most importantly, luckily it was me and not my husband. i was wearing a black dress. he was in a white linen shirt with khaki pants.
there wasn’t a sign of the hose down 5 minutes later…the 80 people were none the wiser. looking back, it’s an amazing story – maybe Levi was trying to tell me he didn’t want us to mess with his parts…
Awww…I totally sympathize with you. But I have to admit, I giggled a little at all the events. I have totally been there. Actually, I had a similar thing happen to me last week at the grocery store with my two kids when my shopping bags busted open as I walked to find my car, which I forgot where it was since I have somewhere lost my brain. I am 31 weeks pregnant and seemed not to be able to grab anything that fell out of the bags, without something else falling out. Then I looked up and saw a teenage boy in his car, just watching me. Not willing to help AT. ALL. So, I think maybe it’s not just moms that judge, but everyone. And I curse them all! But I vow to help moms everywhere from that moment on (but possibly not teenage boys).
Thanks for sharing your moment of insanity! We have all been there, and at the very least, we can have a good laugh about it!
Ceci
That sounds like a nightmare of an outing! And I admire you for not just getting up and running out of there! I will admit that like you, I’m sure I’ve made nasty faces when Ive witnessed these scenes before. But never am i judging that a child is acting out. Let’s face it… toddlers throw fits, they push boundaries, they purposely press every button you have. Its just part of their nature and that’s not going to change when they are out in public. My face making is in response to what the PARENT is doing in the situation. You see a child kicking and screaming cause they want this or that, and what does the parent do? Hands them whatever it is that they want. And guess what the child just learned “if i kick and scream she will reward me with the toy.” If i told you that my children never act out in public… obviously it would be a lie! But it doesn’t happen often and that’s only because I am fairly strict. I tell them how i expect them to act, i let them know what the consequence will be in they act differently, and most importantly I follow through. When my oldest was my only and was about a year and a half she threw the ugliest of fits one day at target. All of a sudden she began screaming at the top of her lungs for no apparent reason. With my face more red than that big target bulls-eye I gave her one warning “stop now or we will leave.” she didn’t stop, so we left. and she learned real quick that i mean what i say! Now a days all I have to say is “we will leave if you don’t stop that.”
Truthfully though it doesn’t sound to me like your girls were even behaving badly! Obviously a lot of craziness going on but the worse part of the story was the milkshake catastrophe. And that’s chick-fil-a’s fault, not yours! We definitely cant expect a baby to be happy strapped in a stroller forever. And your little girl was trying on shoes! Just what you’re supposed to do in a shoe store! Don’t worry about those other moms, i doubt there was anything you could have done differently. Their kids must poop glitter and rainbows.
“poop glitter & rainbows”…best.line.ever.
Oh Sister, been there AND survived. It’s funny after the fact, but when you are in it, you are sprouting gray hair and sweating like crazy.
I have 2 boys and needed to get out of the house when my 2nd was about a month old. I thought low-key= library and story time. Well that was a bad idea. I lost my oldest (just turned 2) multiple times in the library. Why did no one grab my child running out the front door blows my mind. Everyone just pointed…he went that way. So obviously he needed to get out energy, so we went to story time with songs and dancing. By the time I finally made it out of the library and home (probably about a 45 minute trip total) I was sweating, had a headache and my shirt was unbuttoned to my belly button which I hadn’t realized until I was home. The kicker, I didn’t feed the baby. How long had my shirt been unbuttoned? Why did no one tell me I was flashing everyone in a public library? Oh the adventures of mommyhood!
In our house the other day I *jokingly* threatened that if my kids didn’t stop asking questions I’d have to tape their mouths shut. The next day when I commented on how many questions my son was asking while shopping at Target, my daughter loudly (the only volume she knows) announced that I was going to be putting duct tape on her little brother’s mouth because he’s talking too much. Duct tape!?! Apparently hanging out with daddy while he’s working in the garage has taught her about the varieties of tape. I avoided the condescending looks of the others in the ailse and hightailed it out of there!
I love your honesty! It is what keeps me coming back to your blog. Sure I love the crafty posts but I love that you do not sugar coat your life for the blogosphere. I have been there. My son is three and has had more than his share of tantrums in stores. The last two times my kids were acting awful in the checkout lane, I had an older woman tell me “what wonderful children” I have. Seriously? Did you just see them? I don’t know if they are trying to sympathize with me or think I am coming down on my kid’s too hard. Maybe they are trying to remind me that they are wonderful, even when they are acting up. I don’t know. Thank you for sharing your day! I love your post title, I had to share it with my husband.
Oh I know those days!
I know I used to judge other mums when my first was only tiny but with 3 girls 4 and under I no longer do. I try to give them an encouraging smile while thinking “that was me yesterday”. I think I am going to start to verbalise it though as recently when I had one of my girls running riot a lovely mum told me I was doing a great job and I think that was all that kept my DD alive that day!!
I remember my daughter who is now 23 running around at Home Depot screaming and I think she was about 8 and at that awkward stage. My husband was chasing her and finally got a hold of her and she started yelling, “Ow!! OW!! OW!! OW!! YOU’RE HURTING ME!!!!!” I was completely mortified and the judgments were coming from all angles in full motion. I said, “So your kid’s never acted up before?” very loudly. I still do that to this day in other mother’s defense when I see prudish non-mom’s or old women (that have apparently forgotten what it was like to have their kid misbehave) passing their ever-so-wonderful judgment on the poor embarrassed mothers of the world that are having a bad day. Remember to back up your fellow mothers in the future when everyone’s passing their ever-so-righteous judgment during their bad day and tell the others to get a life. I think they’ll really appreciate it. 🙂
I’m sorry you had such a rough shopping trip! It seems like some days kids are just fine in public and other days…not. When I was 9 months pregnant with my second (she is three months old now, so this incident is still fresh in my mind) we took my toddler to Target. He wanted to get down and push the cart from in between our feet (thanks husband for letting him do this once long ago, he remembered and wants to do it every time we’re at the store). We let him but he kept darting to the left and in front of other people with their carts, so he had to go back into the seat. He began to wail, but the wailing turned into this awful banshee shrieking that pierced eardrums all around. I gave him a warning and told him if he didn’t stop, we would have to wait in the car while my husband finished shopping. He didn’t stop, so I picked him up and waddled to the front of the store, and of course, he was kicking and flailing and trying to get down. He kept accidentally flipping the bottom of my maternity shirt up with his feet, so the entire store got a great look at the stretch marks all over my gigantic belly. I was humiliated.
Anyway, we’ve all been there, and the other women were just being jerks.
HAHAHA This is hilarious!! I am not a mother yet, but I have babysat my fair share of trouble makers. Imagine the looks you get when you are a 21 year old girl, with a set of one year old triplets at a pizza place. Quite the scene. It took me a week to wash all of the garlic powder out of my hair.
I also love that she is in her princess dress. Speaking of…. your husband is amazingly creative! That castle was the bomb.com. Your little girls are lucky!!
I have read your blog for years and I just found this to be hilarious. I have two little ones and I have een in some insane situations. But I loved the fact that you pulled out your phone and started snapping pictures. I do the same thing.
I do get those looks from other moms with that glare. I guess we all cant be as “lucky” as they are lol.
at least you kept it together
You are so right about moms being the worst critics! It makes me sad! A while ago, my friend and I went to the costco of candy stores. I was holding my little boy, taking SO much care that he would NOT touch anything. I leaned a little too close to the shelf and he yanked off a TWO POUND bag of MINI JAWBREAKERS! They went EVERYWHERE in the store. They bounced and rolled across the cement floor, and through the racks. It took 3 workers 15 minutes to sweep up the mess. It was SOOOO Embarassing!
I say forget those other moms! They should know better…karma will get them when they are out with their own kids one day. 🙂
I picked my daughter up from her second day of preschool on Friday and she decided to pick that moment to run away from me for the very first time and go screaming around the gym like a lunatic. All over the fact that it was time to go home and she wasn’t done playing with the “PURPLE RIIIIIIIIBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOONNNNNN!” I was so embarassed. I was trying to get her out of there, while holding my somewhat hefty 1 year old and wearing heels after my extremely LONG week at work, all the while she cried and screamed about the stupid ribbon. I just kept tryinig to remind myself that she is three and I am sure the teachers have seen this before from other kids (right??). 🙂 LOVE your blog!
I so totally know the judgement! I have three young girls (4, 2 and 9 months) and they seem like they have been tag-teaming a lot lately!
When ever I see a mother that is having a bad day I try to say something encouraging and then try to give them a laugh! It happens to the best of us! It is really how you handle it. I know a time or two where I could of handled it a little bit better!
I was way worse when I was their age. I broke my mom’s nose and fractured her ribs at the same time. 🙁 We were living in Germany and our car caught fire (while we were in it) and we had to walk to and from the commissary (and we didn’t live on base). Mom was carrying me home in one arm, groceries in the other and I was flailing around and screaming and throwing one of my still-famous tantrums. She just took me home, set me down in the tub, and turned the cold shower on me. I was pretty bad until I started going to school. But hey, I turned out okay! 😉
I don’t have kids yet, but I do have a dog, whom loves taking trips to Starbucks with me so he can lick up whipped cream and socialize with other dogs. We were out for a normal Starbucks trip and Bear decided to pee. On the wall of Starbucks. I guess he just wanted everyone to know this was HIS Starbucks, thank-you-very-much, and the rest of us were just using it. You think moms are judgmental, try out other dog owners. Those people are crazy. You’d think my dog had just contaminated the patio with Anthrax or something.
Today…Home Depot with 2 year old.
Only thing worse than other mothers judging you are men at Home Depot.
I got the ” What are you doing here with all these power tools little lady with an out of control kid?” look from every man, father, grandfather there.
Only sympathy given to me as I held my very strong kicking and screaming child while trying to pay and get out of there came from a very sweet woman cashier who said
“I always though it be great if we had a playroom for kids while you shopped”
What a great idea!
Good for you for shrugging those women off! We have ALL been there. I have to admit, on a few of those “bad days” the tears were mostly mine, not my two angels! Once while attempting to pay, my unstrapped son took off out of the stroller, like a cannon. I couldnt believe it. My toddler daughter tried to help but fortunately a sympathetic older MAN, retrieved both and brought them back. I just found this site, have never commented before, but had to “just this one time”! You are phenomenally talented and witty! You have a brand new fan! Thanks for the smiles!!