Input/Output

Today at Chick-fil-A, a lot of people looked for and at me. Because Mal had a lot of energy and kept running into the play area by himself. We couldn't sit close to the play area because the restaurant was busy. But I did watch him walk away, and kept an eye out for when he was coming back.

At one point, I realized that a table in the back corner was available, so I started packing up our food to move back there while he played. In the meantime, he ran back into the play area, and the table next to the door had four people giving me the eye.

Then I got my tray back in the corner and the people at another table asked, "Did you lose one?" I said, "Oh, no. I was just moving." I heard the woman say something to the man about how she didn't have the energy something something something. 

Sigh.

Well, anyway, after he played for a while, he was really ready to go. So I packed up our stuff and we had a couple of books, which fit into my purse, then Mal's left-over food, and my soda. In other words, my hands were full. I asked Mal to stay with me, and he seemed like he was good for it.

By the way: Our Chick-fil-A is closed for remodeling, and the one where I went was so busy, I ended up parking in the strip mall parking lot behind it, so I had to walk across a parking lot thoroughfare, and then all the way around the building to get inside. So we had to walk all of that to get back to the car.

My kid can be a spaz. He really can. He can not listen to me, he can do his own thing with no regard to his own safety. But today, hd was great. Today, he stood to my left and we walked at the same speed all the way through to the car. I was on the outside, and we were chatting the whole way to the car.

As we got to the last traffic lane we'd have to cross, we walked through it, and a lady drove by and roller her window down. I looked at her, expecting... Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but I was smiling and was thinking pleasant thoughts.

Instead, she angrily said, "You need to hold that child's hand, that's what it is." I just smiled and nodded as she rolled up her window and drove away.

What the? Why? He was really good! I'm sorry if a free-range kid walking nicely through the parking lot makes YOU nervous. Then drive slowly and be cautious. You should, anyway. My kid did nothing. I did nothing. Why would you criticize my parenting because you have an imagination that got spooked?

Sigh.

And then, here we go with the fact that I'm a super hypocrite! Beacuse I mentally advised a parent at the gym. It was none of my business, but I had an opinion. I don't think I'm any better than the lady who told me to hold my kid's hand, either. I was pretty judgy.

At the gym today, a guy had a son who was probably about 3 or 4. He was asking his kid to sing the alphabet, which he did. Even as they ran around and played. Then he asked him to say another alphabet. I didn't hear what he called it, but his kid started with, "Alpha! Bravo!..." and so on. He had to be prompted every once in a while. Kind of funny to hear a preschooler pipe up in the quietness,
"Whiskey!"

After that, the dad asked him to say "Ah, bay, say..." which I'm guessing was French. Why, Dad? Just why? But that wasn't all. Later, the kid wanted the dad to help him jump "to the sky" on the trampoline. The dad said, "Okay, let's count, then I will." So the kid counted to 10, broken, with help, and really just gasping for air because he was getting a lot of exercise.

The dad helped him once, then said he'd help him again if he counted again. "Uno, dos..." I was freaking EXHAUSTED listening to the "lessons." Why can't the kid just play? Why does every second have to be an "enrichment" exercise? What is the point of making your kid learn to recite the alphabet at all, let alone in other languages? Counting I get, because I like to know how many M&Ms I'm consuming.

That's a joke, but only slightly.

My friend Justin said today, "Everyone is a parenting expert when it comes to other people's kids." Yeah. Same.

Meanwhile, my kid was just exhausted and nursed a good 15 minutes when we got there. No one has ever said anything about it to me, even though at this point I'm sure he looks like he's 6.

Oh, goodness, he was so tired that yesterday I let him take a "little" nap at 4. It lasted until 7:30, and he was awake until after 11. So even though he slept in a bit this morning, he was just a mess. So was I. He took a nap today closer to 3, and I'm hoping he wakes up soon so we don't have a repeat of last night. If that dog downstairs keeps barking, he just might.