Sometimes things happen that make me think... did that really just happen? Are you serious?! What were you thinking?!
For example: I was at the Emergency Department a few days ago with Ella, and there was a little boy there who needed some severe parenting... or any parenting at all, really. When I first got there, he was running around in circles screaming. Okay, I can understand that. Hospitals are boring, and we all feel like screaming after being there for a while. Next, he sat in his chair and chirped liked a bird. Really loudly. Okay, I still get it. He has some extra energy, and he needs to get it out. But then he came over to where I was sitting, with Ella sitting on the chair beside me. At first, he just reached out and touched her foot. I smiled. Then he reached out and held onto her hand. Okay.... Then he crawled onto the chair with her, put his hands all over her face, and talked directly into her breathing space. This boy was probably around 6 or 7. He should know better than that. His dad (I'm assuming) was the one who was there with him. He said, "get off the chair, honey." And the boy jumped down. Then he got right back up and started putting his face in Ella's again. I looked at the dad. "Get down please, sweetie." Seriously? This happened 2 or 3 more times. If my child ever climbed onto a chair with another person (whom I didn't know) and proceeded to touch that person's face and cough into their mouth, I sure wouldn't be sitting in my chair all sweetly asking her to get down. You better believe I would be out of my chair faster than germs spreading in an ER. I would pick up my child, take her back to her own seat, and tell her how that behaviour isn't appropraite. And then I would make sure she would not do it again.
Another time, Danny and I were at the grocery store and a father was shopping with his two children (probably 7 and 10). He was staring at the coffee, and his kids were blocking the end of the aisle with their shopping cart, screaming at each other. I said "excuse me, please." The kids just stared at me. "Excuse me." The dad looked over at his kids, said "move guys, you're in the way" and stared back at the coffee. The kids didn't move. I said excuse me again, and the dad asked them to move again. Nothing. So I had to physically move their cart out of my way, and knock into one of the kids with my own cart while trying to get through because he still refused to move. As if that wasn't bad enough, when we got to the next aisle, one of the kids had picked up a bag of coffee and threw it over the top of the aisle they were in, into the one we were going into. And not a word from dad. WTF parent?
But it's not always lazy parenting that astounds me. Sometimes, I can completely understand where kids learn their behaviour! One day while walking at the mall, I had Ella in her stroller and Gracie walking beside us. We got to the doors to go outside, and as any parent knows, unless that door is automatic, getting through it is a bitch. I turned around to walk through it backwards, so my butt would open the door instead and I could pull the stroller through. I told Gracie to come through and she was waiting patiently for me on the other side. As I was walking backwards trying to get the stroller through I saw a lady coming at me in a sort of jog. I thought to myself, "aww, she's going to hold the door for me so I can get this damn stroller through it!" Nope! She said, "excuse me" and then (after holding onto the stroller to support herself) stepped over my stroller and through the door herself. I was flabbergasted! And apparently so was the man who was standing nearby who said, "what the hell!?" and just stared at her open-mouthed (and then held the door for me). I can maybe (maybe) understand if that woman was in a hurry (and to be fair, maybe I didn't notice that her arm was cut off and she was bleeding profusely from a stub), but there were 3 other sets of doors she could have walked through without stepping over me and my children!
I wish I could discover a good way to handle these situations. Mostly I just smile at these people. I have never said anything to any of these people, although I have had make-believe conversations in my head: "Hey crazy lady! You wanna try maybe holding the door open for a woman with a baby stroller, instead of walking over her?" "Hey dad! Your kids are throwing shit all over the store while screaming and blocking the way of the aisles. Wanna tell them to pipe the fuck down?" "Hey daddy. I'm assuming your kid is sick because he's in a hospital waiting room and he's the one wearing the yellow bracelet. You maybe wanna get him off my infant's lap? Or at the very least, could you tell him to stop wiping his hands all over her face?" If only I started saying these things out loud... my blogs would be soooo much more interesting!! :)
For example: I was at the Emergency Department a few days ago with Ella, and there was a little boy there who needed some severe parenting... or any parenting at all, really. When I first got there, he was running around in circles screaming. Okay, I can understand that. Hospitals are boring, and we all feel like screaming after being there for a while. Next, he sat in his chair and chirped liked a bird. Really loudly. Okay, I still get it. He has some extra energy, and he needs to get it out. But then he came over to where I was sitting, with Ella sitting on the chair beside me. At first, he just reached out and touched her foot. I smiled. Then he reached out and held onto her hand. Okay.... Then he crawled onto the chair with her, put his hands all over her face, and talked directly into her breathing space. This boy was probably around 6 or 7. He should know better than that. His dad (I'm assuming) was the one who was there with him. He said, "get off the chair, honey." And the boy jumped down. Then he got right back up and started putting his face in Ella's again. I looked at the dad. "Get down please, sweetie." Seriously? This happened 2 or 3 more times. If my child ever climbed onto a chair with another person (whom I didn't know) and proceeded to touch that person's face and cough into their mouth, I sure wouldn't be sitting in my chair all sweetly asking her to get down. You better believe I would be out of my chair faster than germs spreading in an ER. I would pick up my child, take her back to her own seat, and tell her how that behaviour isn't appropraite. And then I would make sure she would not do it again.
Another time, Danny and I were at the grocery store and a father was shopping with his two children (probably 7 and 10). He was staring at the coffee, and his kids were blocking the end of the aisle with their shopping cart, screaming at each other. I said "excuse me, please." The kids just stared at me. "Excuse me." The dad looked over at his kids, said "move guys, you're in the way" and stared back at the coffee. The kids didn't move. I said excuse me again, and the dad asked them to move again. Nothing. So I had to physically move their cart out of my way, and knock into one of the kids with my own cart while trying to get through because he still refused to move. As if that wasn't bad enough, when we got to the next aisle, one of the kids had picked up a bag of coffee and threw it over the top of the aisle they were in, into the one we were going into. And not a word from dad. WTF parent?
But it's not always lazy parenting that astounds me. Sometimes, I can completely understand where kids learn their behaviour! One day while walking at the mall, I had Ella in her stroller and Gracie walking beside us. We got to the doors to go outside, and as any parent knows, unless that door is automatic, getting through it is a bitch. I turned around to walk through it backwards, so my butt would open the door instead and I could pull the stroller through. I told Gracie to come through and she was waiting patiently for me on the other side. As I was walking backwards trying to get the stroller through I saw a lady coming at me in a sort of jog. I thought to myself, "aww, she's going to hold the door for me so I can get this damn stroller through it!" Nope! She said, "excuse me" and then (after holding onto the stroller to support herself) stepped over my stroller and through the door herself. I was flabbergasted! And apparently so was the man who was standing nearby who said, "what the hell!?" and just stared at her open-mouthed (and then held the door for me). I can maybe (maybe) understand if that woman was in a hurry (and to be fair, maybe I didn't notice that her arm was cut off and she was bleeding profusely from a stub), but there were 3 other sets of doors she could have walked through without stepping over me and my children!
I wish I could discover a good way to handle these situations. Mostly I just smile at these people. I have never said anything to any of these people, although I have had make-believe conversations in my head: "Hey crazy lady! You wanna try maybe holding the door open for a woman with a baby stroller, instead of walking over her?" "Hey dad! Your kids are throwing shit all over the store while screaming and blocking the way of the aisles. Wanna tell them to pipe the fuck down?" "Hey daddy. I'm assuming your kid is sick because he's in a hospital waiting room and he's the one wearing the yellow bracelet. You maybe wanna get him off my infant's lap? Or at the very least, could you tell him to stop wiping his hands all over her face?" If only I started saying these things out loud... my blogs would be soooo much more interesting!! :)
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