On being a parent

I woke up today hot, crabby and way too early.  My husband hat the heat on last night while I was at work.  While the days are still a miserably low 90’s and our century old house can get really warm without the ac on, the nights are still cool enough that my husband likes the heat on.  Our bedroom seems to be the least well circulated.  It’s the hottest room in the summer, coldest in the winter.  And boy, was it hot today.  I woke up at one, and I was sweaty.  Ew.  I turned the ac on and tried to go back to bed because five hours of sleep after being awake since Thursday morning is NOT an enjoyable experience.  But such is life.

I was up and had several errands to tackle before my little ones came home.  I needed a cheapie hat that I could bedazzle into a seriously awesome labor and delivery themed Derby Hat for this weekend.

I needed to pick up groceries for dinner tonight.  Taco night!

And finally, I needed to pick up my son’s party invitations.

As I was walking into Walgreens to pick up my kiddo’s invitations, I heard a little kid, maybe my son’s age (4-5) calling out from the car to his mom, who was also walking into the store, to get him a drink.  The mom turned around and yelled she wasn’t getting him a drink.  I have no idea how this child was behaving prior to me getting out of the car, but I didn’t think his behavior was anything out of the normal.  The mom and I got to the Walgreen’s entrance at the same time.  She turned to me and said,

Wanna kid?  It’s free.

What?

I’m the kind of person who 99% of the time has to take a moment to process what people say and another few moments before I can come up with my snappy response, so this woman’s comment just got a blank stare from me until her words could set in.  It was tempting to track her down in the store and tell her exactly what I thought of her ugly, disgusting comment.

First, a child is not an it.  My children are two of the most precious blessings I’ve had in my life.  They complete my existence in the most wonderful way.  They are, in short, freaking amazing.  Yes, they drive me crazy sometimes.  They make me angry, sad, embarrassed and frustrated sometimes.  But I am infinitely proud that they are my babies.  I love them to no end.  Like I said, they are freaking amazing.  They are smart, funny, loving, creative, crazy and beautiful creatures.  I cannot say enough good things about my children.  How many times can I say they are freaking amazing.  I would never be so callous as to call either one of them an it.

Secondly, no matter how frustrated, angry or embarrassed I might be by their occasional less than ideal behavior, I can’t imagine turning to a total stranger and making such an appalling statement.

My heart breaks for that little kid in the car.  Parenting is hard.  It’s a life long commitment.

Sigh.

I don’t want to end on a sad note, so here’s a happier saying.

“Mommy, Maddie’s toots smell like poop.  Daddy’s toots smell like paint.”