Oh No You Didn’t!
Oh yes, she did! I spent this evening at a birthday party that my son was invited to. Who throws a party for 4-5 year olds on a Monday evening from 5:30-7:30 p.m.? I wouldn’t, but that is just me. Ethan is usually wound down and ready for bed by 7:30 p.m. on a weekday.
The party was held at an indoor inflatable playground. Every child’s dream. Lot’s of running, yelling, jumping and then the sugar rush of cake and ice cream follow.
There were 3 high school teenage girls who staffed the room and enforced the rules amongst the rambunctious pre-schoolers. For minimum wage, you wouldn’t have found me working there at that age listening to “on top of spaghetti all covered with cheese….” over and over again.
The almost all female parent brigade stood around chatting, but there was one mom playing policewoman during the entire party. Instead of watching her own terror of a son, she was constantly hounding other children. I kept one eye on her and one on my son. He was actually pretty well behaved (not that he doesn’t have his moments).
The other mom’s didn’t seem to care that this woman was correcting their children and ignoring the fact that her son just pushed 3 little girls down climbing up the slide. Or that while she was telling the staff to ban another little boy from going down the slide, her son was climbing on top of the air hockey table.
Me? I cared. So I waited until she took her shot at my child and she did so by telling him to stop jumping so hard in the bouncer. (Which is what it is for!) So I walked over and politely said, “Excuse me, but unless you gave birth to this child mind your own business. Which by the way, your business is now unplugging the inflatable slide and you would know that if you kept your eyes on him and off the other children.”
She huffed and walked off. Although I didn’t hear any claps, the eyes of the other mom’s all gave me the approving nod.
My name is Emily. I’m 30 years old. I have often been told that I ask a lot of questions, but I think I have more to say than ask.
GO FEN!!!!!!!!! That’s my kind of person — telling it like it is! I can’t believe all those other moms let her get away with that!?
More so, I cannot believe someone at a party on a MONDAY EVENING. That’s TOTALLY INSANE! I’ve heard it all now. Seriously, I can’t believe it. WHO does that???
Yay Emily!!!! I wanted to whoop really loudly when I read this but I don’t think work would understand or appreciate it. So I whoop loudly on the inside for you. That silly cow needed telling.
I’m not completely against someone correcting my kids’ behavior if he needs it, but that would be more along the lines of my kid is interfering with their kid playing or something. Sounds like she definitely should have been paying more attention to her own spawn instead of forgetting that she wasn’t the only parent there.
APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!! APPLAUSE!!! The crowd goes WILD!!! That is SO KICKASS. You’re my idol…I’m such a wussy about shit like that, my mom keeps telling me that THIS is the precise reason that I need to learn to stick up for myself. You ROCK! (and I’m working on it!)
I’m clapping!! You go girl!
AAAAWWWWEEE–SNAP!
And that my friends in the way you do it
Way to put that woman in her place…and with such finesse. If you’re not proud of yourself…you oughta be!
good for you for speaking your mind…i am way way way bad at that. i have to send in the husband!
That sort of “parenting” always amazes me. What’s the point of getting after other’s people’s kids when they’re not paying attention to their own?
Good for you. I wouldn’t want my child to be “taught” by other parents, unless my child knows her and I gave that parent expressed permission to do so.
Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/
PS. I’ve started a photoblog at http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/mike_leonen
Appreciate a visit and comments.
That’s hilarious. It would’ve been even better if the other moms had burst into applause.
I’m clapping so hard my hands hurt!
Bravo, bravo, bravo…or would that, more correctly be, brava? Oh well, the point is the same. But may I offer another view: sometimes when a wonderful sprite is totally misbehaving and his parent is ignoring/oblivious/whatever, a well-spoken word from another adult is called for. Truly.
That lady sounds like a few soccer moms I used to know. Too bad I couldn’t figure out a way to tactfully shove the balls down their throats.
way to go……… you sound like the kind of mother that will someday hide her purse in ta microwave also………i must say i have read this over and over…..what a laugh!
Good for you! That’s something I would have love to have said but wouldn’t have the nerve.
Wow! Good for you - that’s freaking awesome!
that was wonderful! serves her right!!