Saturday, February 25, 2012

Team Mom

Whenever I see a kid throwing a tantrum, I always silently thank the mother for taking one for the team.  Like when a 4 year old asks for candy in line at Target and the mom says no and the kid pitches a fit, I think "Well, sorry lady, but thanks.  'Cause at least for today, it's not me."  Or when a toddler throws himself to the floor of the library, taking down a shelf of books with him, crying because all of the Thomas the Tank Engine books are checked out, I say a silent thank you.  Or when I see a mom, sweat forming above her lip as she drags a preschooler to the side of a parking lot, 'cause he's protesting some injustice, like having to zipper his coat in 20 degree weather, I do my best to meet her eye and hope she sees my gratitude.     

Unfortunately, the last time we were at the Franklin Institute, I was on the flip side of the fortune coin.  My kid was the one red-faced and thrashing about, because R made M move to the back of the line in the sports exhibit, rather than allowing him to shove in front of the 5 children waiting behind A, who was taking her turn on the surfboard.  Logically, to a 4 year old, "If my sister is up, it must be my turn next." 
It got so bad, that I had to pick him up and move him out of the exhibit, because kids were stepping over him to get to the surfboard.  I sat him on the floor in the hallway and let him go to town, screaming, banging his fists on his knees, hair wet with hysterical sweat - his sweat.  Not mine.  I remained remarkably, uncharacteristically calm.  And I watched other moms walk into the exhibit, I thought, "I hope you appreciate this, ladies.  I'm taking this one for the team today."

4 comments:

  1. Its funny that you mentioned that eppisode in target because this weekend when as soon as I walked into target I witnessed this little boy scream at the top of his lungs "I don't want you to be my mom any more" then he ran off while the mom screamed after him "thats fine cause I don't want you to be me kid any more" then about 1/2 hour later they were paging him over the speakers.

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  2. Hi!
    I often read your blog. I have 4 yr old GGB triplets. I just wanted to thank you for this post. It's great! So often people only blog about the wonderful, perfect days and can leave you thinking, "am I the only one whose kids misbehave?" (even though I know it's not true). You do an awesome job with your little ones. Thanks for sharing the wonderful experiences and ideas along with the reality of life with kids!!!!!

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  3. Wow, what a nice unexpected comment!

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  4. It's good to remember that moms have to stick together and try not to pass judgement. Mama said they'll be days like this...she just didn't tell us that sometimes it will be day after day after day after (you get the picture).
    P.S.- You are a fantastic Mom :)

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