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It's been a rough day. Like a really rough day.
With Nolan's second birthday right around the corner, I can feel a shift in his attitude and I'm not a fan. However, I understand it's just his age and I've learned to be more patient with it. I used to be that girl rolling her eyes in the grocery store or restaurant when I saw a toddler having a tantrum and his parents just sitting there, but now I totally understand there's not much you can do.
We were at his gym class the other night and I was getting so frustrated at a few of the parents there, one guy in particular. As a 21 month old boy, Bubba is still learning the rules on taking turns and sharing. He understands he needs to do it but it's not so clear on why. Sometimes, he gets frustrated that I'm restraining him and making him wait for the other kid in front of him to get off the trampoline and he has a little bit of a meltdown.
Insert rude guy. His kid had literally been jumping on the trampoline for way longer than she should have been and Nolan started to get a little frustrated, as any toddler would. So I made a joke like "we're still learning on the taking turns thing" and he shoots me this you're-a-terrible-mother-look and just says "Yea.."
Really dude? Get your kid off the trampoline and stop making my son wait even longer than he needs to. If your kid would have gotten off of the trampoline when she should have, he wouldn't be throwing a hissy fit right now.
Parents should be encouraging one and other, not making it worse. We're supposed to be on the same side and I hate when some parents make it seem like my kid is the bad one and their kid is the angel.
Insert rude kid. The same rude man had an older daughter, who had a sidekick with her as well.
Just a few of the things I heard them say to Nolan included:
"You can't play with us""Don't come up here""We live here, we're playing and you can't play with us""He's too little, he can't do this"
Yea, the girls kind of reminded me of these twits...
Excuse me little girl? My kid is perfectly capable of doing whatever you're doing and who are you to tell me he can't? Why wasn't her dad over here worrying about how she was acting and less concerned with my child's tantrum 5 minutes earlier?
My son is not even two yet and he has better manners than some children I've seen/met at playgrounds, the gym, etc and it drives me insane. No one's perfect and I understand that. But there is NO reason one parent should be judging another when their kid is less than perfect too.
I know kids have minds of their own and say things without thinking. But it makes me so upset to see a parent judging my toddler when his 7 year old was being intentionally rude. I'm not trying to be all preachy and Kumbaya here but we should be helping each other teach our kids right from wrong, and not allowing it to happen right in front of our eyes.
If Nolan is in the wrong, I make him sit in timeout and take a break. Kudos to those who do the same and shame on those who let their kids get away with being mean to kids younger than them. I know, we all love our children and think they are the cat's meow. However, they're going to be in the wrong some of the time and we need to teach them that it's not okay.
But after thinking about it, I can see the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Snooty dad, snooty daughter. Luckily, I was not raised like that and refuse to raise my Bubs like that either. This isn't the first nor will it be the last run in with people like this but all I can do is teach my children right from wrong and teach them to ignore the mini haters. And I'll just ignore their hater parents too.