Tanning, Laughing and 1 Very Lucky Little Girl

So far our trip has been fabulous! We've laughed so much that my stomach hurts today and we did some tanning (I fell asleep in the sun cause I like 3rd degree sunburns) so I am a lovely shade of raw chicken. Yesterday we went to the market and bought a whole ton of fresh fruit and vegetables (later to be eaten with chips, vanilla ice cream and Pepsi) and Tasha and my Mom went on huge bender shopping sprees. It was lovely to see them both so delighted with all of their new clothes. Tonight we are going to "The Grapevine". It's a pub in these here parts and it's legenday - apparently this is the place to go if you want to feel good about yourself due to the large amount of trashy and unstable people that gather there. Nice huh? I'll just remove my "Christian Missionary" badge and put it over here with my back issues of Humanity Today...

There is one story I am putting off telling for I fear it paints me in a bad light. Please keep in mind it was very hot, I was very tired and she was REALLY asking for it. When we finally arrived at our gate (after the cross country trek from one side of the airport to the other) we noticed it. The yelling. The screaming and crying. HER. I glanced around to find who/what was making this tremendous fuss and I saw this little girl with shock blonde hair, tear stained eyes and her mouth open mid scream. She was about 4 years old and she was in my bad books immediately. As we were lining up to board the plane, she got louder and louder - she wasn't just crying beause she was upset, she was scream-whining "Mooooooom!!!!!! NO!!!!!!" over and over again. And her Mom simply stood there ignoring her and occasionally throwing a "Ssshh!" over her shoulder while she talked to her friend.

My skin was crawling and the blood was rushing to my face - I was so angry and so determined that the offending child would be sitting nowhere near me. I watched in horror as the other passengers cleared a space around them so no one had to be near that child. When they finally got on the plane, we had a blissful 2 minutes of silence before we too had to board. Of course, when I got on, I met eyes with the one other person in the world as livid as I was at that moment and she said (very loudly and while looking directly at the offending toddler) "I'm trying to get away from THEM, but they've just moved closer to me!!" I just said "Yeah ... I know ... " (I mean, what else can you say right?)

Please let me explain why I was so enraged in point form:

1) We were raised to not throw tantrums. If we EVER behaved like that in public, we'd only do it once.

2) I don't think ignoring your child when she's throwing a tantrum in a public place is the way to go about it. Discipline her for crying out loud - scold her! Do something but don't just stand there while your kid screams herself hoarse infront of 100 middle aged and easily annoyed passengers. I'm not a parent, so I don't know the whole story but this was one of those situations where you know the Mom just doesn't care/want to deal with it and the kid is just being a brat because she's used to getting her own way.

3) I wanted to say something but couldn't. That made me the most mad. It wasn't my place (as everyone else was already leaning over to comment on the child) but I so wish it was. My Uncle Geoff is terribly funny and mild mannered but he told me a story once where he was in line to pay for some groceries at Safeway when the child infront of him threw an epic tantrum. The mother stood there and did nothing to stop her kid from freaking out in a line of people and so my Uncle leaned over to her and said "Listen, are you going to discipline him or should I?" She immediately dealt with the situation and all was fine.

This little girl enraged me. I've never felt so much anger towards a child in my life. And her mother ... well, let's just say - actually, let's just not say. It's safer that way. In any case, my iPod served me well on the flight so I couldn't hear her screaming and crying like Linda Blair mid exorcism. Needless to say I glared at her mother when we met eyes at the arrivals gate and she stared back, defiant and proceeded to tie her daughter to the stroller with one of those kid leashes. Strollers have wheels lady, and you didn't lock them first. Classy parenting guys - learn it here.

More than Judging Something I Know Nothing About,
Jen