Two weekends ago I was blessed with the opportunity to care for my niece and nephew while their parents were in Hawaii. I LOVE these kids with my whole heart. On Saturday afternoon we took a little trip to Target to purchase Valentines for their parents and to get snacks for our visitors in the evening. This is how the trip went...
I get the kids out of my vehicle when my 2 year old nephew decides he'll walk in on his own. So I promptly stop him and say in all my wisdom, "You need to hold my hand or Auntie will carry you in." To which I received this response, "No hand no hand" and he darted off in the parking lot. So I run after him wearing 2.5 inch heels (because I'm not a mother I saw no reason not to wear them as I left the house). As I run to grab him I start thinking to myself WHAT WAS I THINKING? High heeled boots!
So I scoop him up into my arms and hold on tight. He is flopping in my arms like a fish out of water. As I continue to walk with my nephew wiggling in my arms and my 5 year old niece by my side she states as we get into the crosswalk (Yes, we are still outside of Target at this time) "Auntie, We're going to play follow the leader and I am the leader." To which I say, "Not now sweetie." With a definitive voice she states, "We are playing follow the leader" and she stepped in front of me and stopped! The only thing that can happen in this situation did happen... I tripped over her dancing like a flamingo stepping on hot coals trying to avoid stepping on her, and really trying not to drop my nephew. She falls and yells, "Geez! Did you haffta do that!" In my frustration as I gained my footing in these ridiculous heels, I tell her "stand up were going in."
We make it into the store and I grab a cart to put my nephew in. He refuses to sit, I calmly tell him to sit on his pockets and helped my niece into the back of the cart. As I turn around there is a couple who had seen the entire scene out in the parking lot... Do they sympathize with me? NO. I received the worst horrific look of disgust from them! At this point I was livid with them. They had not heard what went on in our little discussion. All they had seen was me, tripping over my niece and not even stopping to ask her if she was ok. I realized at this point... being a parent has got to be the most humbling experience. I felt so little. I love these two kids SO much that it makes my heart hurt at times.
Following our trip to Target I spent some time discussing (at her age level) the situation with my niece. I let her know that Auntie loves her and her brother so much that sometimes it hurts.
I have always tried to be non-judgmental about parents parenting their children in public; however, this situation humbled me even more. My respect level for my sisters with children and the parents of the children I work with has increased immensely.
If you are a parent I'm sure you've experienced situations such as this, my question to you is how do you want others to respond to these situations they oversee?
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