Once upon a time, I was a childless woman who sat in judgment of "those moms" who could not keep their children in line, who raised their voice to them, or worse. Well, I now have to apologize to those mothers (and fathers), because I am now one of you.
Today, in a mommy and me class, My Little Man (MLM) was not happy with using the hoola hoop we picked out for him to use. So, he took it upon himself to take the teacher's hoop while she was showing all of the other children how to use it. Wow. I tried to reason with him (a waste of my breath), I tried to "sternly" tell him NO (a waste of my energy) and I tried to threaten him (he called my bluff).
I felt so useless. I picked him up and he did the old "limp body trick" -- an effective and utterly annoying toddler defense that surely drives any parent mad. He thought he owned every hoola hoop in the room. Rationally, I know this behavior is completely normal. The whole "me/mine" phase is part of being a toddler. But when you're living this delightful experience as the parent, you just feel like all eyes are on you. You can smell the "judgment" in the room. Of course, I know I'm in a class full of parents of toddlers who go through this daily just like me. But there has to be a few who feel that MLM is being a complete brat (besides me of course).
I think to myself, I was that person once. Passing judgment on people I had no right to judge. But not anymore. I'm a changed woman. When I see another child melting down I just look at that parent with a heart full of empathy. I try to communicate to them through my eyes that I competely understand how you feel right now and you're doing a great job. Then, I think to myself "Thank The Lord That Is Not My Child Right Now!"
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