So, I totally forgot to post about an experience that I had last week, and I have to tell about it. It's funny, sad, and unbelieveable at the same time! I don't want to re-type the whole story so I just pasted it from my Journal. It's kinda long, so skip if you want, but it's really kinda crazy!
I have to first mention, we had just been at the dentist for two hours, it was nap time, but I HAD to run some errands and so we went to Wal-mart, got lunch at McDonalds:
...and I was just happy my kids were lasting to hold out for lunch when we did. They ate really good, were having fun finishing ice cream and Jayden was being silly, laughing and screaming this high pitched laugh scream thing. I was laughing at him while also kinda trying to get him to quiet down a bit cause it was hurting my ears! Just then this man standning near by comes to talk to me. "See that woman over there?" He said pointing to a woman across to the opening of McDonalds. "Yes"I replied. "Well she nearly fell off her chair when she heard him screaming." I just had to laugh for a minute and was kind like oh my gosh cause it's kinda funny. He was not laughing. "And my wife and I are leaving the restaraunt because of his screaming." That's fine I said. I told him I not only couldn't but wouldn't make my laughing 1 year old stop screeching. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and although I was shushing him, I wasn't going to freak out a bout it. I was very calm this whole time, but then he continued to tell me about this book by this lady who said that to be courteous you shouldn't let noisy children in places of public (wierd concept), and that you shoudln't have to deal with hearing children being noisy and if they are so rude to do so you should just leave the place. HOnestly what he was trying to tell me didn't make any sense, and I just totally him I absolutely didn't agree and that I am completely happy with and fine with the way I handle my children. Apparently this wasn't what he wanted to hear as he continued to call me a fat slob and @#%$$ is what I can do with my children. I said that's fine, that's his opinion, which we are all entitled to including me and mine is that we are fine, that I don't agree and when my children are being happy and making a little noise I'm fine with that and I dont' really care what he thinks. All the while I'm still really keeping my calm although underneath I was shaking like crazy because you know everybody around is staring. He got even more upset with my reply and said something else about don't you forget what I told you.....walked away for a minute, then came back and again says, "well don't you forget my opinion of this (pointing his finger up and down me) and you don't forget what I told you." I was like fine. Then he finally left. I rolled my eyes, Maliyah finished her ice cream and we started to clean up and leave. In my mind I was just thinking how sad it is that he had nothing better to do but allow a 1 year olds screech ruin his day and think he needed to treat another child of God that way. Then the gal sitting near us who had two small children had to of course say her two bits. She was appaled! I told her I wasn't really upset by it because it doesn't mean anythign to me. He is just a crotchety old man who apparently isn't very happy with life, but I am so whatever. It was cute as she continued to say how impressed she was with how calm I was through the whole thing. Then she started to say what she would have said to him (many profanities) and that she was just so impressed at how I handled it and that it probably upset herself more than me and she was still shaking! It was funny but it's amazing what the spirit can help us with when situations arise.
I am not a smart person, I don't have clever come backs, but I also don't believe getting upset in situations like that is going to solve anything and apparently by me not reacting, it got him more upset because it wasn't the reaction he wanted. And even then he tried to come back for more! To me it really was quite funny how it all happened. I couldn't stop thinking in the car how sad that mans life must be if he drags his wife out of ever place that they are EVER disturbed by children, and instead of looking happily upon my laughing children and letting their day be brighter becuase of it, he did the opposite and allowed himself to get upset over it. But I wasn't about to fall into that trap and I was very proud of how I handled myself and I'm glad I did especially for my kids' sake since they were sitting right there in front of me....
Anyway, funny crazy story that I just had to share, hope you got a little laugh and maybe some insight into how to handle such a crazy situation!
11 years ago
2 comments:
Good for you Camille for not making apologies for your happy, playful children. I sure hope that man did not ever raise children of his own (if he did, they are all probably seeing a shrink) I can't believe someone would be botheres that much by a happy screaming child! Most people probably looked at him smiling and thinking what a cute kid he was. I'm glad you didn't let some rude man's comments make you feel like a bad mom! I probablt would have cried or yelled at him in that situation, so way to go!
I hate when that happens-I used to manage apartments and had to deal with people confronting me all the time about the dumbest things, I always remained calm for the most part unless they started cussing in front of my kids, and then I had to take them outside (my house was the office) and let them know that they needed to show respect in front of my children, and that that if they needed to yell at me to make their sad little lives validated, then that was their problem, but it became my problem when it had my kids hearing things that they didn't need to hear. I always remained calm, but stuff like that always shakes you up, and it's hard to calm down inside after a confrontation like that. It amazes me how people have the balls to even do that-I can never imagine going up to somebody and saying-"Hey your kid is tickin me off-do something about it!" Absolutely amazes me!
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