I've been stewing over something that has been bothering me since it happened...
The other day, in amidst our morning errands, Maggie was carrying on quite a conversation with me and her brother. Something about Belle and the Beast and Mickey Mouse's house. I can't remember everything, but it was quite entertaining.
A lady in line in front of us, kept turning around, and giving us one of those fake smiles.
Around the umpteenth pretend smile, I gave her one in return.
She then said, "I don't know how you understand your daughter, but instead of encouraging such ridiculous pronunciation, maybe you could encourage her to speak properly."
I was flabbergasted.
Out loud, I gave one of those half chokes/half gasps.
I'm usually very soft spoken, but when it comes to my children, I am not.
Hell broke lose.
"Oh, and what makes YOU the authority on how I raise MY child?"
Blah Blah Blah... the lady was in education for many years, and saw many "Retarded" children in her classrooms, and knows that parents sometimes encourage children to stay retarded and not grow.
This woman is bat shit crazy, to put it lightly.
I responded, something to the effect of, "Look lady, you don't know my child, you don't know the steps I am taking as her parent to have her speak better, and you sure as hell don't know manners are. Don't EVER accuse my child of being retarded, or even use that word! Thank GOD you're no longer in the education system. I feel pity for any student that ever had YOU as their teacher! And while we're at it, LEARN SOME MANNERS!"
She looked shocked... I'm guessing that no one else had stood up for themselves or their child to her before... and it was about time.
I grabbed my cart, fuming, and went to a different check out lane.
She's lucky I don't believe in violence, or else I would have decked her.
Uuuuuuugggh. I'm still annoyed. I haven't stopped being annoyed since it happened. The nerve of some people. And even with the nerve of that woman, I still feel semi bad for telling her off. I don't want to be the rude person in any situation.
Melissa
3 comments:
You're a hell of a lot nicer than I would have been.
I would have been angry as well. I remember the man in church who told me that I should teach my boys to sit still, not crawl over me, and "behave" in church. They were 3 and 4 years old. He commented that my husband was an excellent father because he was sitting next to our daughter, who was sitting quietly, at the age of 7!! UGGHH!!
You are an AWESOME & AMAZING mother! If I hadn't been in church, I probably would have said similar things to the idiot behind me,who was far more distracting than my two toddler boys!
If we don't stick up for our children when they can't, then nobody else will! I think this will be something you can share with Maggie when she's older and needs encouragement standing up for herself, or a friend, or even her kids one day. You are a great mommy and I am apalled at the nerve of this lady! I'd have had some choice words for her as well, but I don't know that I would have been as kind as you were!
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