Over the weekend, I took Greenleigh with me to the craft store to pick up a few things for our placemat craft. As I was standing at the register, I took out my check card to pay. Greenleigh saw it and immediately had to have it. You know, to hold it. Because in a stunning move of brilliance my bank decided to make my check card shiny and silver. Why, oh why, would they do that? I was perfectly fine with my old, dull blue card that never caught Greenleigh’s attention, but now? Well, it’s sought after. And I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t lost my shiny check card a few times just because Greenleigh wanted to hold it. Sure, it’s easy to give in and let her hold it, and easier to forget that I put it in the back pocket of my jeans when I did manage to pry it out of her hands a few minutes/hours later. Until I’m in line to pay for my lunch the next day and go to pay with that same check card…and I’m not wearing the jeans I wore the day before. Then, that “easy” move really sucks.
I quickly swiped my check card through the card reader at the register, put it back in my wallet, and took out my AAA card, which is, thankfully, an even shinier (gold) card. I’d tried this move before, only for the AAA card to be grabbed and thrown or knocked out of my hand by a flailing toddler hand, but this time it actually worked. She happily took the AAA card and began trying swipe it through the card reader.
My conversation with the guy at the register then went a little like this:
Clerk: That was really good parenting there. Most of the parents I see just yell at their kids.
Me: Oh, thanks. But you know, it’s hit or miss.
Clerk: What do you mean?
Me: Well, sometimes I try to give that card to her instead, but it makes things worse. She gets angry that I’m trying to switch the cards on her and she ends up screaming and crying on the floor. But today it worked, so “yay!” for that.
Clerk: It’s just nice to see a parent care enough to take a different approach.
Okay, while I totally and completely appreciate someone taking the time to acknowledge what they felt to be good parenting, why did it have to be attached to an attack on other moms? I mean, I much prefer a compliment as opposed to people staring and judging me, but really? It’s almost as if the compliment was totally negated by the second part of his statement bashing other moms, and because of it, I just didn’t feel right accepting the compliment that had been given.
That clerk might not know it, but the craft store isn’t the easiest place to take a child. The colors, the textures, the flowers, it’s just overload for little kids. Hell, I can get overwhelmed when walking into one of those stores. Add a 2-3 year old with the attention span of a gnat, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. And the store layout isn’t exactly parent friendly. They have glitter in glass containers at toddler eye level for Gods sakes! Glitter. Glass jars. Who the hell planned out their store? And that dollar bin area right by the registers that you must stand by if you want to pay? You know, full of those small items that fit perfectly in toddler hands? Just. Shoot. Me. What the hell were they thinking? It’s a battle to get in the store, get what you need, and not break anything in the process, so I totally understand a parent loosing their cool as they are just about to leave the store. By that point, you’re just exhausted.
Naturally, I’m not in any way advocating yelling or screaming at your children, but we’re parents. We’re human. And we occasionally lose our patience. Or at least, I do. And in that moment voices can get raised, even if you are a stellar parent.
In the end, I muttered the words “Thank you” and decided it was time to leave. I figure I’d to take the compliment that had been given, the first part of it, that is, and stick it in the back of my mind for the next time I’m being judged. It was at that point I realized that Greenleigh had been successful in her attempts to swipe the magnetic strip of my AAA card through the card reader, and in the process, had thrown the system for the entire store offline. I left right as they shut down all the registers to reboot. So much for good parenting.
Oh, and if anyone finds a shiny AAA card with my name on it, please let me know. Mine is now missing.
well said babe…yes doing anything with kids is hard, just getting out of the store in one piece is a miracle.