Dear Other Mommy,
How dare you judge me? How dare you give me those condescending looks and eye rolls? You don't know me. You don't know what is going on in my life. You have no idea what kind of mother I am.
Not that it really matters but the reason the we are at McDonald's at 8:30 in the morning is that we did not have power at my house. It went out at 2am. The house was cold and I needed a way to feed my children.
You see losing power is not fun but because everyone here in my house sleeps with a fan, when power goes out we all wake up. I know that I looked like a hot mess this morning but that was because I had been awake since about 3:30am with each and every one of my children. It is very difficult to sleep with up to two children in your bed along with a husband.
All I wanted this morning was to crawl back into bed and sleep but that was not going to happen so that is why we trekked out. Since sleep was not going to happen, coffee was a must for me. I wanted to drink my coffee, watch my children play and surf the Internet.
Which is what I was trying to do when all the commotion happened. See, to you I looked like I was not paying attention but I was. I saw what was going on. I just don't think is necessary to sit right out side the play area and watch my kids. I don't need to hover. Obviously, you don't agree with this method.
I heard my kids getting loud and I saw them running and playing. And it might not have looked like it to you but they were actually trying to include your daughter in their play. Now, I do agree that their screams were getting a little too loud but for goodness sakes, it is a play area and if kids can't run around and scream there, what is that place for?
I know to you that it appeared that they were screaming at your daughter but that is not true at all. She just happened to be in the cross fire of the screams. But if you hadn't been so busy rolling your eyes and scoffing at them, you would have seen that she was laughing and smiling right along with them.
My children were not going to hurt her. They were playing. I am guessing that you only have one child because sometimes when little kids play together it gets physical. I promise I would have stopped it before it got too far but in my book, it was not where near that point.
Just consider yourself lucky that my reaction time was delayed from the lack of sleep and caffeine because other wise I might have slapped you for screeching at my children to get out of your daughter's way when you suddenly decided that you had, no needed to go to the park right that second.
Now, I would have gotten up and helped you but you see just as your screeches and cackles frozen my children in their spots, the same thing happened to me. I just couldn't believe your reaction.
Anyway, you may want to consider some chill pills for the future and I hope that you had a nice time at the park. Oh, and I am guessing that you didn't realize that it was raining before you told your daughter you were going to the park. Yeah, have fun with that one.
~Jen
Deux par Deux Has The Cutest Kid Clothes
4 days ago
55 comments:
Wow! What was going on in that mom's life that day? I have never screamed at someone else's child. If things are getting too rough for my tastes, I just redirect. No big deal. I hope she finds those chill pills you prescribed:-)
You tell her!! Love it!
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!!!!! Lets get together and let our kids cause chaos in the McDonalds playpark! I bet my kids are louder and wilder than yours!
Amen, Sista! If I'da been there, I would have slapped her for you.
yeah I've never yelled at someone else's kids...and I wouldn't unless they were hurting my own. And it doesn't sound like your kids touched her. I'm sure they wouldn't anyway. Geez. The only thing I've even said to other kids is when they are WAY older than my own and I ask them to be careful because he's little.
Ah, the luxury that mother has of knowing everything. Must be an incredible burden! LOL
I'm impressed. We usually don't make it to McDonald's for breakfast until well past 10 am! :)
There are some nasty people out there.
Ridiculous! Some people are too dumb to be let loose...
Oh! And I hope you got your power back!
What a be-otch!
What was her problem? Maybe she's the one who needed the morning coffee!
Standing up and applauding you until my palms turn red! Way to go mom! (Hope your power came back quickly!)
~ Jennifer
http://thetoyboxyears.blogspot.com
I can't believe she had the nerve to scream at your kids!
She yelled at your kids? Wow. When we were at Disney, I was most tempted to yell at someone elses kids. But considering their parents were right there...
I was in the hot tub. And evidently, they thought the pool was too cold, so they all got in the hot tub. With goggles. And floaties. And then their daughter proceeded to bellyflop in. Ugh.
I just left in disgust.
But...your story. Your kids were in a kids area. Acting like kids. Whatsa problem??
she sounds lovely!!!
=)
I love it when you get all feisty :)
Lol. You go Jen.
No electricity suuucks big time when u have little kids. Glad everything's back to normal now.
And next time don't freeze. Yell back. Can't believe she yelled at your kids.
Shortsighted judgemental cow.
Wow that sucks! I HATE when any other mom says something to my child, unless my child is totally wailing on their child.. which wait doesn't happen... so leave me and my kids alone!
I am getting all riled up just thinking about this.
I know this woman, she is my neighbour two houses down!
It is a good thing your reflexes were slower...you might be in jail right now
Wow....that is quite a morning! I hope you got to bed early tonight. Rain, no power and crazy woman to deal with, ARGGGHHHH!
Seriously, in the rules at those places, they need to post "typical child behavior." I have had many of similar experience and it is never fun. NEVER! You handled it much better than I would have.
Good for you and i am so glad that your kids are noisy too!!! It's the only way to have them..
The claws came out, didn't they? hee hee... love it! RAWR!! ; )
She screamed at your kids??
Shame on that woman! Sheesh.
I guess it's just experience that makes us less apt to discipline others' children...except I have never disciplined a stranger's children.
One day I was at a mall with my two small daughters. I watched a three year old girl go out the doors and into the parking lot. I didn't see a parent so I grabbed my girls' hands and went running out the door. I caught her in the way of a car driven by a woman who honked, yelled, and made inappropriate hand gestures at me. She also rolled her eyes and said something about my parenting skills.
Not. My. Kid. Wouldn't she want someone to bring her child back in if she turned her back? If only she'd known, she might have been slower with those hand gestures.
Needless to say, the mother of the child was completely frantic and grateful.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Even if I got chewed out and judged.
She's perfect till it happens to her.
Hope you get some sleep tonight.
I am just in shock that she had the nerve to yell at your kids! That is so crazy but I know exactly what you mean about how kids play.
Oh gosh, she needs at leas twins to get her into reality!
SO sorry you had a tough time - I also had a night straight out of mommy horror books.
I'm gonna join you and "Momma@Live. Laugh. Pull your hair out" - all our kids together in one playgound. Bring earmuffs.
What a crazy woman. I'm sorry she was like that.
Maybe she had a bad night. Maybe she wanted to and her husband said No ...?
Gotta love the mommy judgement...hope the rest of the day goes better.
She must have only 1. It's different when you have one, easier! You have all the answers until another one come along and you are forced to start all over and the answers don't work any more. Multiply that by three for you!! LOL!! What a crazy woman!
Great letter! Hope she got a good soaking!
Parents like that drive me nuts. I'm glad you were able to keep your self control...thank goodness for lack of caffeine I guess! I'm rarely good at self-control! ;)
Here is likely how the park would have played out for she and her daughter...."No, put that chunk bark down, it's dirty" "Don't play in that sand!" "No, I told you, we don't pick up rocks - they are dirty!" "OK, yes, you can go down that slide - just stop yourself before you get to the little puddle @ the end" "No, quit kicking the dirt - you are getting your shoes all dirty!" ;-)
There's a time & a place for kids to be kids. And dang it, the playground is that place. I could understand the eye rolls if your kids were climbing the stacks in a library but what did she expect in a PLAY area?!
What a piece of work! Wow...and I just dont get that some people have to be so crazy.
love the letter.
Geez... that woman sounds like a NUT if you ask me! You handled that much better than I or my husband would have - he'd have marched right up to her and given her a piece of his mind over that one! LOL Way to go mom! ;o)
SHeesh! What a nincowpoop! I, like you, would have been totally frozen (caught off guard) if something like that happened. What's up with her? Some serious chill pills were definitely required.
Glad you can blog about it and we can all tell you that your kids are fantastic and "cranky mom" needs to let her child out of the bubble!
Hope you got to enjoy at least a little coffee time.
What a nasty lady! Loved your letter!
Sounds like she may have needed a few chill pills. Yikes!!
(Sorry about the power thing - that sounds awful!)
I am worried about days like that. It seems that so many parents are just insane these days. I am sure there is verbal parental fighting in my future.
I've played both roles. Well, I don't think I've actually yelled at other children. But I've done my share of eyerolling and judging. I try very hard to be aware of this, and try to chill out because I have had times like yours this morning. Thanks for the "check". :)
She'll figure it out someday, but in the meantime...people like that just annoy the crap out of me. :) It's nice to know I'm not alone in that view.
Oh my, the nerve!!! I try very hard not to judge b/c you're absolutely right that you have no idea what is going on with them. :)
oh boy...playground/area dynamics are interesting aren't they? there's the hoverers...the passive ones...the aggressive ones...the playmate parent...the list goes on. I try to not hover or be too passive...I try to remind myself to let them play and learn and explore...even to let them make bad choices as they go...but its a fine line - and some parents don't walk it well.
sorry about the no power - hope it came back on quick!
Wow. That was defintely over the line! I probably would have given her a piece of my mind!
I love this!! Absolutely love it! Right on, sista! :)
YOU GO GIRL!!! I can't stand other parents sometimes!!!!
I hate this! I hate the hoover parents as I call them. My kids are getting a bit too old for the playplace but my 6 year old still enjoys it so I usually let the older two play too with some ground rules. They usually are fine as long as the other parents just let the kids play. I get nervous cause my kids are some of the oldest and I don't want them to be too rough. How annoying!
Oh yeah and last time at the park when another kid fell off the monkey bars and seriously looked hurt no one came over so I asked if he was ok and then he mom came over and gave me a dirty look. How annoying! If my kid got hurt and I didn't see I would want someone to ask if they were ok not just ignore the fact that another kid is laying their hurt. People are just jerks sometimes.
Like someone else responded...you handled it a lot better than I EVER would have.
People like that always makes me wonder what horrible thing is going on in her world, because surely something MUST be massively wrong to think you can yell at someone else's kids.
Man, I feel sorry for her child - she had to go home with her.
I believe that you can't always know what battles the other person has faced or is facing. It's hard to do because we can take everything so personally. So I hope this mommy gets a much needed break from whatever issues she's facing that caused her to lash out. Bummer it came to that.
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