I was in line at Target the other day and could hear a kid
in COMPLETE meltdown mode.
Kicking, screaming... crying
Mom, trying to finish her tasks had the kid in the cart and was in
the self check out line.
She was doing the "don't give the situation attention, it will only make it worse" technique
The result, was the little girl screaming and kicking in the cart the whole time
while mom and older sister finished their much needed tasks.
I was in a parallel line, choosing to be away from the sounds.
But....while in line I found myself laughing.
Out loud and carefree....
The couple in front of me, the cashier and the lady behind me looked at me for a reason.
I said " I am laughing because I am thankful I do not have to deal with that today.
One less drama for ME, YEAH"
At that everyone agreed and nodded and giggled to themselves.
The woman behind me said,
" When I had my kids, that kind of thing was not allowed"
I said to her " sometimes people have bad days, clearly that little lady is having one. She is learning how to deal with it. I feel for mom, as clearly she is just trying to finish what she came her for..."
The older woman didn't really know how to react...
maybe she wasn't able to grasp the fact that a kid might have a bad day,
and being uneducated on how to deal with the feeling, went strait to tantrum.
I completed my purchase, and left, hearing the crying fade as I left out the front doors.
It felt like I was choosing happy over drama.
But later I wondered...
Was I lacking empathy?
Was I gloating?
4 comments:
Ha that kind of made me titter. I have quite a few moments like these in shopping centres. I usually try to be empathetic with the mums of tantrummy kids and give them a smile, but I sometimes get a dirty look back; maybe it comes across as as a leer or a snigger. I dunno, I have a strange face. So I just act discreet now. But I do often look at families and think thank god you're not mine. Maybe everyone does that.
You were choosing happy over drama. You could have complained about the noise, but instead you were glad you weren't having to deal with it. And you showed considerable empathy to the mother in your response to the other woman. Pat yourself on the back!
Hahaha, this made me laugh. I thought of you yesterday when I made a quick dash to the shop for some last minute things for dinner last night. As I was leaving, a mother was wrestling with her youngster trying to get him to sit in the trolley seat. The youngster was not having a bar of it. Each time she attempted to lower him in, his legs splayed out. This replayed several times, and I grinned (with raised eyebrows) at her. She could see the funny side, as she chuckled at me as I passed her. As you said, you don’t have to be an adult to have one of those days, and I think a smile works better than a scowl.
Hahaha! I get you. Sometimes I feel the same way - the child melt downs can be hilarious. But I also do not blame the mother either. Kids, like adults, have bad days. But for kids, it is a public melt down typically :)
I think you are right on choosing happy over drama! Healthy way and it is good to see the benefits of our no kids lives sometimes!
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