Sunday, February 7, 2010

Parenting in public

Today I had to "deal" with Biscuit in front of a bunch of other mamas. This is the first time that's happened, but I can tell you that it's crossed my mind before about how I would handle it when the time came.

I try very hard not to judge other mamas because you never know what kind of day they've had or how bad a mood the kid is in or maybe even that the kid's personality qualifies him or her to be called "a handful."

But today, I proved to myself that I can do what's best for my son, everyone else be damned! Okay, it really wasn't that severe, but I'm still proud of myself.

Biscuit and I were at a baby shower this afternoon and when the hostesses sliced up the cake, I decided I'd share with him. I put Biscuit in my lap and gave him two small bites of cake. Then he hauled off and smacked me right upside the head. I was so stunned that it took me a minute to realize what happened.

I set him down on the floor and said, "You're done," and of course, he started crying.

I immediately felt my stomach flip as I realized several of the ladies were looking at me to see what was wrong with Biscuit. "He's okay," I said. "He's just mad."

"What happened?" asked a lady I didn't know.

"He hit me so he doesn't get anymore cake," I told her.

"Awww. Poor little man," she said.

"He has to learn." That was it. I didn't go into any further explanation. He hits, he doesn't get anymore cake. It's as simple as that.

I'll go ahead and say that I was proud of myself. I did what I needed to do, and I really didn't care what anybody else thought. I've always had tendencies toward insecurity, so I worried that if other mamas gave me "the look" or they said something critical about how I was handling a situation, that my first thought would automatically be that I was doing it all wrong.

But that didn't happen. I would bet money that even though I was nervous and worried, nobody thought twice about what was going on. Most of the women at the shower have kids. They've all been there. And now I have, too.

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