Here's a Mom Tip: Don't be a Bitch

A pretty smart guy named Plato once said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Ain't that the truth. I can only speak for my own hard battle, but as a parent, life is hard! Nevermind adding working/stay-at-home, one kid or many kids, etc. etc. etc. to that. Being a parent is hard. Period. So it seems to me that when you meet other parents, the incentive to be kind should be doubled. I mean, you know first hand how hard that other parent's battle is.

We took baby girl to Gymboree this weekend. We were considering it as a location for her second birthday party (ZOMG, wasn't her first birthday just LAST WEEK???), so we signed up for a free preview class to see if she loved it.

There were only a few other kids in the class we attended, and only one other girl. If you're not familiar with the way Gymboree works (and we weren't, so don't think I'm stating the obvious here), you pay a monthly fee and then most parents have four set classes they go to, one per week. So the kids in the class we attended were "regulars."

It was verrrryyyy clear that the other girl (let's call her Peyton) and her mom were used to being the queens of the class. Peyton was a cute little girl with wispy blonde hair pulled into a side braid. She was sporting a snazzy little outfit: skirt with leggings, matching hoodie. I smiled at her and her mom as baby girl and I wandered our way into class, looking wildly out of place. I received only a half-smile back from the mom. Okay then.

Peyton and her mom knew the routine. Of course they did. This was their domain. Baby girl and I watched them and muddled our way through the songs and dances. When it was time to "act like a dog," and crawl over an obstacle course, my not-very-physically-daring darling took her sweet time. Peyton got stuck behind her. I tossed an apologetic smile at the mom, as if to say, "Sorry! She's just not too sure of herself yet." I was ignored. I said, "Hey baby girl, why don't we let this other little girl go by, okay?" when what I wanted to say was, "Hey Peyton, how about you step off my baby and wait your freaking turn. Patience is a virtue." Her mom ignored me again and helped Peyton step over around baby girl. When it came time to search for doggy bones, Peyton ran over and scooped them all up. When baby girl walked over to participate, Peyton didn't offer to share and her mom didn't encourage her to, either. When we played hide and seek with the doggies, when baby girl found two doggies, Peyton's mom quickly told Peyton where three other doggies were and then loudly announced she had found three.

Her mom sang the words to every song loudly. When it was clear that baby girl was pretty talkative and started answering the teacher's questions before Peyton did, the mom started loudly trying to prompt her daughter to answer. Insert big fat eye rolls from me and, if we're being honest, smirking that my newcomer daughter was giving queen Peyton a run for her money.

But really, the whole time I was wondering, whatthehell is wrong with this woman? Is she really so insecure or territorial that she can't be kind to us? And I shudder to think about the girl and woman that little Peyton is going to turn into with such a woman modeling this kind of behavior for her.

And then there's the mom at my kids' school. When TH was getting little man's car seat out of the car seat closet the other day, he said the edge of little man's blanket was resting on another child's seat. That child's mother came in and said (are you ready for this?), "Excuse me. Would you mind keeping your kid's shit off of my kid's things? Thanks."

What.the.fuck.

It boggles the mind why parents feel it necessary or even acceptable to be so mean to each other.

So parents, let's keep in mind that small eyes and ears are always following us, learning about the correct ways to interact with and treat others. So keep Plato in mind, remember that we're all fighting hard battles, and don't be a bunch of bitches, mm'kay?