My bad

This is a public apology to someone who will probably never read it. It is to "that mom". We are all "that mom" at one time or another, aren't we? Just last week, I was "that mom" who let her kid ride in the basket part of the shopping cart. A small-ish offense, for sure, but how many childless times did I roll my eyes. "Why don't you let your kid walk?" (seriously???) or "You know your kid could just vault out of there, right?" (sure, or I could let her "walk" and allow her to clothesline about 4 aisles of breakables before I catch her, probably mowing down a stray toddler or two in the process)

So this is to "that mom", parent to "that kid" in Ella's gym class. I get it now. I probably got it then, but let my pride get in the way after being smacked in the face. After all, I am educated. (Roll of eyes that I would go there in the first place. Please.) My kid would never do such a thing. (Right.) And surely, I would never, ever let her/him off the hook without a well-verbalized, if not sincere, apology. (Mmm-hmmm. Sure. Didn't Ella eat a cookie from the nice cashier-man at Trader Joe's without audibly thanking him and making a millisecond of eye contact? Thought so.)

Well, educated head-up-your-backside self, after one measly contact with "that boy", I am sure you noticed that he doesn't make much eye contact with anyone, that his mom is overwhelmed and probably near tears but she is trying, that he is not only young, but clearly not very social and tends to cry (okay, scream) when forced to interact? Hmm. Duh.

We moms are all just that -- moms. And yes, we all have our days and yes, there are some who use questionable practices. (I still disagree with the carseat thing, but we'll let that go for now). We are all trying to do our best with our kids whom we love fiercely and deeply. That dear boy showed up in his Halloween costume today, just as clueless about it as Ella was a year ago, and his mom let him do his thing. He meandered around, near but not with the other kids and even gave Miss Julie a high-five. While Ella and I waited to give Miss Julie her thank-you card, I overheard the mom asking advice on what to do. "He did better today, right? I mean, he didn't participate, but he seemed happier."

Maybe I'll get an attitude again, should I run across this family. Maybe I'll get more "insight" that makes me think I have it all figured out and that I would be a blue-ribbon mom to this kid. The thing is, I am not often of the opinion that I am a blue-ribbon mom to my own kids, so maybe I should get off it and be a little less judgmental.

I am sorry. Come and be a fly on the wall in my house on a typical day and you will realize that I am full of it.