dirty looks

Just because you don't say anything doesn't mean that you are not being judgmental. Why do you feel you can judge me? I am a stranger. Parenting. Actually parenting. You are a single woman. Maybe you are a parent. But you are not the parent to my child. You are not. So back off!

Okay, rant over.

After work I stopped by someone's house and bought a new kitchen table -- craigslist. But it didn't all fit in my car in one trip. So I promised Ladybug that we would go out if she was good and didn't complain. And it worked. She stayed in a good mood. So after I shoved the last chair in my car I we stopped at McDonald's. And that is where she started to lose it. She was wandering while I was ordering. She wasn't paying attention while I was getting drinks. But I remained calm.

Then she picked a table. She slid her drink across the table. It fell onto the seat. The lid fell off and soda went everywhere. But I remained calm.

I asked her to slow down and be careful. Think before acting. I know this is hard for a 5 year old. We went back to the drink fountain and got more drinks. She picked a new table. She placed the soda on the table.

Or maybe I should say that the placed the soda half on the table. And it fell on the floor. I sighed. I said her name. The lid stayed on this time. Soda did not go everywhere. I picked up the cup. And as I stood back up I looked straight into the face of the woman at the next table. And she was disgusted. At me. I assume. At least she was looking at me. With utter disgusted.

Oh, because I am not suppose to get annoyed that my child does the exact thing she just got asked not to do again? Because I am correcting my child? I didn't yell. I didn't tell her she was stupid. I just let her know that she is expected to slow down. Think. Be careful.

I ignored her. We had a good dinner. We laughed. We talked. She stole my french fries. It was nice. I liked the photo artwork on the walls. We talked about it.

As we were getting ready to leave we were cleaning up the table. I grabbed the trash and Ladybug bent down to pick something off the floor. She picked up a french fry off the floor. And it was centimeters from her mouth when I said in a stern voice, "Don't even think about it!" She stopped.

I looked up. Straight into the same woman. Looking straight back at me. With utter disgust. Again. Because I am parenting?

Back off!

Mean Mama