Ah...they warned me. They really did! But it's taken THIS long for me to fully understand what they meant. Maybe it's because I'm not the most social person in the world and I HATE socializing with people, for the most part, so my exposure to other mothers is limited to friends whose company I enjoy. But as my son gets older and interacts more with kids in the neighbourhood, at the playground, at school and out and about, I'm slowly learning how to bite my tongue...sometimes...
Here's an example: over the past few weeks my children and I have been on an indoor playground adventure, which entails carting my poor kids from place to place all in search of finding the perfect venue for my son's third birthday party...ANOTHER STORY ENTIRELY...Now, at the last locale there were a handful of different families, moms chatting to other moms and kids running wild. Well...what would I expect, right? That's the whole purpose of an indoor playground...SHEESH! So, my son starts ripping around the place, going from bouncy castle to climbing apparatus to slide and back again. " I love this!" I think to myself, "My kid is burning off energy in a safe place. WICKED!". Then a little boy runs up to him and asks him his name. "This is amazing!" I thought, "Not only is my dude getting some exercise, but he's making friends too! This was a great idea on my part! Kudos to me!" So, my son and this little boy, who tells me he's almost four, start running after each other, and climb into the bouncy castle. I stand back and watch in awe. The older kid turns from angel into devil in a mere 
moment, and essentially clotheslines my guy. He then climbs on top of him like he's in the WWF (yes, I know, I'm old school. It will never be the WWE to me...get over it!). I watch to see how my kid deals with it...but he just stares at me wide eyed and starts to cry. Granted, my kid is ULTRA SENSITIVE, and cries at the drop of a hat, whether it be a loud noise, a dog barking or mean look. Again, a completely different story to be saved for another day. So, I stepped in and said "Bubz, if you don't like to be jumped on, just say "No Thank You."" What could I really do? It's not my responsibility to discipline someone else's kid, right?
So, my son got over it and they started chasing each other around again. Then the kid tripped mine on the bridge on the climbing apparatus. My guy said "No pushing". "Okay," I thought, "He's asserting himself". I continue to follow because this is seemingly turning into a bit of a bully match. Then my dude picks up a basketball to throw it in a small net. The other kid grabs the ball out of his hands and whips it at my son's head. Now I'm starting to get angry. My kid isn't there as a punching bag for some mangy four 
year old. I look around to find his mother to see if she's going to start disciplining her kid...but of course, she's NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. So, now I'm on a mission. I have a child who's bawling and a four month old clinging for her life and I'm marching around like a bat outta hell around trying to find this negligent mother. I could hardly believe my eyes. She was actually in a completely other room socializing with another mother. And when I say another room, I mean a room with a door and zero visibility into the adjacent playroom. Her kid could be trapped in between to rocks chewing his arm off at this point and she would have NO CLUE. Before I fly into the room I stop myself...and actually think about what I'm about to do. What are my options 1) Forget the mom and tell the kid off directly 2) Leave the playground 3) Be a tattletale to the kid's mom or, if you know me, the more likely of all my options 4) Put a curse on the kid and beat up the mom...
I figured the most appropriate of my choices was to tell the kid, in as nicely a way as I could muster, that it wasn't nice to push or hit other kids. Mostly because I was afraid to speak to the
mom directly...yes, I'm chicken. I'm all bark with ZERO bite. Anyway, the kid looked at me like I was speaking Hungarian. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I pulled my son off to the side and said "If that kid hits you again, hit him back". GASP! Oh no I didn't. Um, oh yes I did! I am so tired of kids getting away with that kind of behaviour. If my child EVER pushed, hit, or bullied another kid, you were be sure that I would be on him like white on rice. Although in my mind I love that kind of behaviour, in reality I do NOT tolerate that kind of behaviour. Perhaps I'm overly strict, but I want to be sure that my child understands that a kind person is the best kind of person. (One day I'll heed my own advice....ONE DAY....) I'm sure there have been many an occasion where my child has hit or pushed another, and if I did not act, it was because I didn't see it. PLEASE always let me know if my child steps out of line OR feel free to discipline him...Now, because I'm not familiar with these situations, I'm not sure how to broach that kind of subject with another child's mother. I also lack the "think before you speak" filter which inevitably gets me in trouble. And Lord knows that mothers get UBER defensive about their kids. There are mothers out there that feel the only person who should discipline their child is THEM. Fair enough. I get it. I also imagine that there are mothers out there who wouldn't take kindly to having their child's bad behaviour pointed out to them. Again, to each his own, right? I have also witnessed mothers who have varying ideas of what discipline is. And then there are those who believe you have to let your child express his or herself in whatever manner they choose. THIS I DON'T GET. And this is where the politics come in...what's a mother to do? When is it considered crossing the line? What's the proper etiquette in these kinds of situations???? What do YOU do in these sorts of situations? Is there a different way to speak to someone you know and see often versus someone who you'll never see again? I need advice, as I gather this mother to mother interaction is only going to become more frequent as the years go on...Before I get all rageorific, S-O-S!
Now, I know I've taken some liberties in my weight loss challenge. Like, I decided that last week, I should NOT weigh myself...for fear of what the scale would read. So it's been SEVERAL weeks since my last weigh-in and I've definitely not been paying much attention to what I eat or how much I've been exercising. Yeah, yeah...You've heard it all before. here's the deal:
This Week: 140.8 lbs
Goal Weight: 130 lbs
Dream Weight: 125 lbs
Will this coming week be the week that I actually break into the 130s???? I'm not holding my breath, but there is that SLIGHT possibility, right?
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