It was Monday or Tuesday that we went to Wal-mart to get the weekly groceries. I always prep them in the car..."Who is going to be happy? and they say "Me!", then I say, "Who is going to be a good listener", then "who is going to be nice?" And they excitedly say, "me!" WEll those little fibbers. No, actually Jenna was very well behaved, she stays next to the cart pretty well and doesn't grab stuff off the shelves, except she has a hard time controlling herself when she sees Barbie pop tarts or fruit snacks.
Zac on the other hand was good at first, then once we were almost finished, he was a terror. I always start at the back of the store and work forward to where produce and the deli are. Anyhow, at about the produce, the cart is full enough that he can turn around and grab food out of the cart, and he likes to throw it on the floor. That day it was green peppers and a head of lettuce, and some mac and cheese. So I fuss at him sternly and threaten him handily. Then he does it again at the deli line, so I head for the check out fuming. (the deli takes 10 years and the line was long..there was an old lady in front of me that wanted to sample all the ham.) When we are at the front of the store, he yelled "you're stupid mommy" and sprinkled in some choice words like "poop". Then when I bent down to get in his face so he could see my words very clearly, he punched me. I imagine that some were appawled at the behavior and thought "she ought to smack him" or "if he were my kid, then _________", where others in the store probably thought that I should blow it off, assume that he is 2 and spent. They were likely offended that I got in his face, yelled at him and then pinched his ear. Parenting sucks. Doing fun things with them, and when they are awesome is great. There are so many things that I enjoy about being their mom, when you have to discipline and help them understand what is not okay is not so fun. It's also hard to separate myself and not react to their behavior on their level. Sometimes I am totally not the adult, and I argue with them... Like that is at all effective. I was so mad when we left Walmart. I was so disappointed and felt some pull to be loving and calm, at the same time I want him to know that I am serious and that behavior will not be tolerated. I wondered what Nanny 911 would have done in the front of Walmart.
Zac, over all, is a pretty good kid, mostly just real busy, but that day I wondered where the heck did we go wrong. The responsibility of parenting feels huge somedays.
5 comments:
Parenting is so hard!! You do such a great job Mandy and try not to worry about what other people will think. You know what you are doing. Pinching his ear was a good idea....it was subtle LOL. Zac is pretty sensitive to how others are feeling, so I'm sure that he felt bad for making you mad. He really is such a cute,sweet,fun boy.....just busy ;) We love him to death and wouldn't change him at all. He has such a sweet, fun personality and keeps us laughing. You are and AWESOME mom and do a great job. we love you!!!(wish you were in Blanding so we could hang out....we miss you guys)
I can definately relate to that story almost everyday of my life. Parenting is sooo hard, and most of the time I feel ill equipped. Yesterday I had a particularly hard day with Gavin and by the end of the day I was completely done with him. I told Jason if he wanted to see his son in the morning he had better be the one to put him to bed. Well, around 9:00 I started feeling badly for how much I had yelled at Gavin all day, so I went in his room picked him up out of a dead sleep and cuddled him on the couch for about an hour. He was so confused. I know it was more for me than for him, but who doesn't need a hug once in a while. Anyway, hang in there, I'm sure you're an awesome mom. We've ALL been there.
Hey, on a side note, I love the new pictures! Especially of you and Steve, and Jenna and Zac. So Sweet!
Mandy, I say(for as much as it is worth) to the ones who would have done it another way..."You go ahead and try!" and to the ones who think he is two and spent..."You go ahead and try!" Zac is lucky to have you for a mom. You know him. You love him. YOU are what he needs. You are an amazing mom with a beautiful heart. You feel and care enough to recognize that parenting is troublesome, sometimes.
But man I hate those days. They really take it out of you and make you wonder about all you are doing. I will have to try the ear thing next time-- thanks for the tip. I love ya!
Can I just say I feel your pain. I was about to blog about Coleman's outrageous behavior everytime we try to hang out with other children. He body slams them, hits them, bites etc. I'm usually very calm when I reprimand him, except when he's violent to other kids...then I blow a gasket. I'm sure mothers are looking at me going "what is HER deal?" So I have no idea where he gets his mean streaks, but I guess it's a little boy thing. Zac sounds totally normal to me, and I would have probably cried and walked out of walmart all humiliated...so, good job at getting him back with the ear pinch. LOL!
I feel for you. Yeah, who would have guessed how hard parenting was before we had kids. I assumed mine would always be PERFECT! HAHA! I am sure anyone that saw you that had kids totally understands. I hate that we have to totally worry about what others are thinking.
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