on THAT MOM...

Yesterday I was "THAT MOM" you know the kind, it's the kind that you used to see struggling with an out of control child and in your professional opinion as an unmarried, childless women you thought "what is wrong with that kid! what a spoiled little brat, I bet THAT MOM lets him get away with anything at home. That's why he is flipping out. It serves her right."

Ok so maybe you are better than I am but I will admit that I judged a few poor frazzled women with a crazed child in my day as the worst mother in the world and that she must have brought this on herself.  And then yesterday all those moments of judging came back to bite me.

I went to a friends house for a baby shower, and my child was in a mood. He spent half the time stealing the other children's toys or food or really anything else that they touched in the 2 hours we were there, and the other half of the time he spent screaming, at the top of his lungs, for no reason. It was one of the low points of my life.

And I felt like such an idiot. Like everyone was wondering exactly what I let him get away with at home. And let me tell you, I don't let him get away with anything. I swear I don't just lay around on the couch all day and let my child have full run of the place. He is not allowed to trash the house or hit people or steal things. Time outs, and saying "I'm sorry" and "Please and thank you" are the norm around here. I have a fairly well behaved child on a day to day basis. Sure he's a little high strung and spirited but on the whole he's a good kid.

And so yesterday I realized something about THAT MOM. Maybe those poor women that I labeled as bad mothers were really, like me, just having a bad day. And I have resolved from here on out to be more understanding and sympathetic, and when I see THAT MOM with her kid in the store I will politely turn my head and pretend to not noticed the piercing screams.