Mommy Rage
"Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories."—John Wilmot
I was at Target today trying to buy a vegetable steamer when Karly knocked a blender lid off the shelf. Thankfully, there was no shattering of glass so I told her to pick it up which (shocker) she did without complaint.
As all parents know, shopping with two busy preschoolers is no small feat. My nerves were fried before I walked in the door, and the knock-the-merchandise off the shelf didn’t help. But my blood pressure hit the ceiling when an older man walked by and in a sing-songy, sarcastic voice zapped me with: “Mommy, watch your children.”
My back arched. The claws popped out.
“Excuse me?” I yelled, pushing the cart (and Kiki) to the end of the aisle.
But he was long gone. He blasted me with his insult and took off down another aisle before I could respond. A hit and run.
My pulse racing, I wanted to chase him down and ask him a few things like:
So I took a deep breath and prayed for peace as I bought my steamer, coaxed the girls toward and into the car, and watched the man get into his car and drive away.
My heart started to calm, and I began to wonder where my anger bubbled up from. Insecurity? You bet. Guilt? Definitely. Wounded pride. Absolutely! Some days I feel like almost anyone else except me would do a better job parenting my kids and having an insult flung at me on a bad day can make me want to sit down and sob.
As I drove away from the store, I realized that it didn’t matter what that man or anyone else thought as long as I was doing my best to care for my children (which sometimes means shopping for little things like clothes, band-aids, food, and even a steamer).
And I decided one other thing—the next time a grouchy man decides to insult me and my parenting skills, I’ll just sic Karly on him. She’ll either hug him or hit him, but either way, I bet he won’t say another word.
I was at Target today trying to buy a vegetable steamer when Karly knocked a blender lid off the shelf. Thankfully, there was no shattering of glass so I told her to pick it up which (shocker) she did without complaint.
As all parents know, shopping with two busy preschoolers is no small feat. My nerves were fried before I walked in the door, and the knock-the-merchandise off the shelf didn’t help. But my blood pressure hit the ceiling when an older man walked by and in a sing-songy, sarcastic voice zapped me with: “Mommy, watch your children.”
My back arched. The claws popped out.
“Excuse me?” I yelled, pushing the cart (and Kiki) to the end of the aisle.
But he was long gone. He blasted me with his insult and took off down another aisle before I could respond. A hit and run.
My pulse racing, I wanted to chase him down and ask him a few things like:
- Who gave you permission to criticize me?
- How dare you imply that I’m neglecting my kids?
- And, most important, why don’t you stop and help an obviously frayed mom who could use an extra hand?
So I took a deep breath and prayed for peace as I bought my steamer, coaxed the girls toward and into the car, and watched the man get into his car and drive away.
My heart started to calm, and I began to wonder where my anger bubbled up from. Insecurity? You bet. Guilt? Definitely. Wounded pride. Absolutely! Some days I feel like almost anyone else except me would do a better job parenting my kids and having an insult flung at me on a bad day can make me want to sit down and sob.
As I drove away from the store, I realized that it didn’t matter what that man or anyone else thought as long as I was doing my best to care for my children (which sometimes means shopping for little things like clothes, band-aids, food, and even a steamer).
And I decided one other thing—the next time a grouchy man decides to insult me and my parenting skills, I’ll just sic Karly on him. She’ll either hug him or hit him, but either way, I bet he won’t say another word.
posted by Melanie Dobson | 9:35 AM
4 Comments:
What a jerk! LOL
Like the idea of setting Karly on him. If I remember, she's a lot like Maddie, and the next P.A. announcement would've been, "Clean-up on aisle 12."
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CJ said...
Mel, we can definitely relate! I remember once Joy and I were in Pagosa Springs, CO for a vacation and it was quite warm and sunny outside. We were walking in a parking lot and this woman in the passenger side of a car that was driving by screamed at us in this obnoxious voice, "You better put some sunscreen on your kid!", as if she could have possibly had any clue whether we had done this or not (we had!). So without skipping a beat, I yelled back at their car (I think while they were still close enough to hear)"You better get a MUZZLE for your wife!", which cracked up everyone we were walking with. Usually the perfect reply isn't right there when you need it, and it certainly didn't display the love of Christ, but frankly, I don't care. It may be wrong but I would probably still do the same today. So my kids may not have learned humbleness, but maybe they learned a lesson on keeping your nose out of other people's business, at least?! ; )
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