My #1 Motherhood Pet Peeve? Take a guess?
1. Regurgitated food? For me a close second but nope.
2. The way they sleep in Monday to Friday but then not on the weekends? Another logical selection but uhuh.
3. Other moms whose kids are smarter, taller, better sleepers, able to do calculus by kindergarten? Well…you’re on the right track but not quite.
My #1 motherhood pet peeve? I’m going to call it The Pawn Off Parent. You know the ones, they take their kid to the park and then type away on their phones the whole time, leaving you to play with their kid. Am I wrong here? I have seen parents actually sit in their cars while the kid is playing and of course they want someone to play with….and if you’re the one there playing with your kid then that choice is you.
It hit home to me last night. Will and I were at McDonalds at the end of a very long and very tiring day. I just wanted ten minutes. Ten minutes to sit and have a quiet dinner with my kid. I saw this woman sitting in the playland fixated on the computer game while her kid was rampaging around the room. We sit down and he comes out of the playland and starts yelling at Will to come and play with him. I was polite at first and said we’d be in when we were finished. By the third time, when Will was totally distracted and not eating, I just said out loud ‘does this freaking kid have a mother???’ I think the woman at the table next to me could tell that my head was about to blow off my body and went in and got the kid contained (note – NOT his mother).
We stupidly went into the playland after and this woman never stopped playing the kids game. Not when he was bending Will’s foot back to get his shoe off. Not when I had to take Will’s toy back. Not when I had to get him and Will to stop wrestling. Finally, not when I had to drag Will out kicking and screaming because he was shrieking like her kid.
This poor kid. Yes, yes, I was prepared to call in an exorcist. But I know where the blame lies. Pay some attention to your kid lady. And I get that you might be tired. But here’s the thing – I’m tired too or I wouldn’t be at McDonalds on a Saturday night. I’d be home cooking something healthy and doing arts and crafts with my kid.
What’s your top motherhood pet peeve?? I’m intrigued!
Oh and lest you think I’m just a grumpy beyotch, I want to give a massive shout out to the guy at the walk in medical clinic today. He was next in line, and Will was losing it – crying hysterically, in obvious pain – and he let us go ahead of him. I didn’t expect it and I was taken aback by how sweet a gesture that was. So dude, you are AWESOME. It got us back to the couch and the Wiggles that much sooner.
i’ve read books to other people’s kids after they shoved mine out of the way (i stopped and got my own back, i’m not that flaky!) and my tipping point was at a local drop in when the caregiver’s kids kept asking me to cut out shapes for them for the playdough. i didn’t mind one or two but it was constant. someone is paying this caregiver to look after her kids and i’m doing the minding! i want my share! makes me glad i stayed home 🙂
Yep, anyone who doesn’t expect their kids to behave appropriately in surroundings that are not for running around and being wild kind of makes me nuts. At the park? Sure, run, scream, jump, whatever. But at restaurants, at the (ahem) library, and so forth, please be on it. I really believe you’re doing your child a favour in the long run so that he knows how to act according to the circumstance. It’s an important skill.
Oh and whatsup with Will? is he better now?
I hate the group of home daycare providers who each bring 5 kids to the Early Years Centre and sit on their asses and “caregive” from the bench whilst drinking their coffee.
It made me glad that I didn’t have to work. These parents would be appalled if they knew what they were paying for.
Now before I get flamed – I know some wonderful HDP’s – but there were several who just let all these kids run amok and would scream at them to “stopit!” “slowdown!” “giveitback” without even getting up off their keester.
So ya…I get it…my pet peeve too.