You are at a grocery store with your spirited toddler. He decides he wants out of the cart immediately to run free and uninhibited around the store. Do you:
Naturally I must have beat the odds and reigned supreme as the ultimate best mother in the history of this galaxy…RIGHT?
Not so my good friend. What actually happened was that a middle-aged gentlemen came right up behind me, looked at my toddler flipping through my iphone (gasp!) and then stared me dead in the face and loudly proclaimed, “WOW!”
Getting ready to retreat into my cloak of mommy shame and not completely sure if this was a compliment or an insult I ventured to say, “Yup it starts young hey? Heh heh…Well whatever keeps ‘em quiet…heh heh errr….” To which the man dramatically rolled his eyes and walked away clearly indicating that I had committed some unforgivable sin for offering my two year old electronics to keep him quiet.
Ok – insult it was. I can’t win.
I know I’m not alone here. I love my child with more love than I ever thought was even possible. And yet there are definitely moments that I think to myself: What I wouldn’t do right now to just lounge on a patio, go shopping alone, spend the afternoon golfing, take a girl’s vacation, etc. etc. etc.
Every mom needs other supportive moms surrounding her. This is the one time in your life where even typically very confident women can feel like they are doing it all wrong and that life is just a series of spit up, nap schedules and monotony with no reprieve…
Hey – please don't be too hard on yourself! This happens or happened to ALL of us (my daughters are young adults now) – but I would say (c) first and then (d)…. but goodness – parents and moms are truly doing the best we can! blessings!
That would have been too. With a snarky comment at the stranger and a "go ahead and try to lecture me" face on because at that stage I would have been at the end of my rope and whoever decided to engage me would probably run away! You need food, therefore you have to grocery shop. You have a kid, they have to come with you. You do WHATEVER it takes to get it done! You ate dinner that night and didn't kill anyone, successful shopping trip in my opinion!
Sigh. It's rotten, isn't it? No matter what we do, there are going to be people who judge our parenting and know that they, of course, would have done it differently, better, not nearly as horribly.
And you know what else? Unless you really ARE doing something awful, like beating your child, then the opinions of those people just don't matter. 🙂
I either do A or D. I've never found B and C to work with any of my children.
I used to love those books!!! I need to find some for my son, since I bet he would love them too! No matter what you choose, there is always some person who is right there to be judgmental about it! ha! Screw em!
Oh, wow! Sorry, this is too funny!! Mostly because I have been there many times. I always choose option a, my 2 year old can not be trusted. And I would gladly take the stares, glares, and rude comments about him quietly looking through my phone if my phone worked for him. He has never been into it. My daughter, however, loves the phone! When she was 18 mo, she had the phone at a store and an older lady said, "Wow! I bet she's better at using that phone than I am! Haha!"
Totally 🙂 Thanks for the encouragement!
Exactly! You are right on the money!
I know! What gives?
Me too! They were my favorite!
You gotta do whatever works for you!
Oh my goodness! I have never had someone say something like that to me before! How horrible. On the other hand, everyday is a choose your own adventure. You never know what will happen!
These were always fun books. I had this exact battle this morning… I went with B it didn't end too bad 🙂
Hey, you do what you have to do. Don't let a grumpy old man get you down .Ps .I used to love those books, and always cheated .
Oh no! I'm sorry that guy insulted you. I've done this exact thing too many times to count. He either doesn't have kids or he was being a jerk…or both.
That is so tough! I'm so sorry. We have many parents at our center who have children with sensory issues and learning challenges, which makes it really tough for them to go to the store and to other crowded places. It usually consists of meltdowns and they've had similar experiences. You aren't a bad mom at all! No matter what stage your child is in, it is really tough and we all have those days.
Electronics weren't quite as prevalent and entertaining when my oldest was little, so I had to just open a pack of graham crackers or something to keep mine quiet. It's funny how people forget what having littles was like and then think they can judge! You didn't lose – he did, for failing to observe a mom coping beautifully with a situation.
Heehee I read those books all the time! I think parenting really IS a choose your own adventure book – minus the ability to cheat! 😉
Can't. Stop. Laughing. You go, mama!
PLEASE tell me you had this published somewhere?!?! This is hilariously written!!!! Damn that judgmental guy though! And, yes I ALWAYS peaked ahead lol
You are so sweet. I haven't…I might revamp it a little bit though and maybe? Ha – thanks for the encouragement!