An Unlikely Critic
I got really mad at a little girl this weekend. As I write that sentence I realize that you will probably think I’m crazy. And I even made fun of myself after. But, it is what it is.
Cooper and I spent the weekend at the lake. (I have more to write about that later.) It was a great weekend. Lots of sun and beach time. My favorite.
As we arrived at the beach on Friday afternoon, Cooper let me know that he wanted to swing. There were two bigger kid swings and a baby swing. Cooper loves the baby swing. He’s afraid of the bigger swings and I’ve never cared. So what. He can sit in the baby one if he wants.
Sitting in one of the bigger swings was a litter angelic looking girl. I bet she was 5 or 6. She immediately started talking to me. “He’s too big for the baby swing. Why does he want to sit in there? What’s wrong with him?”
I sighed. And chatted away with her and told her that he likes the baby swing. And on she goes. “Why doesn’t he talk? What’s wrong with him? Why does he yell so much?”
I told her that he has a hard time talking and communicates in other ways. She told me he was weird.
I couldn’t take it. I grabbed Cooper and walked to the waterfront. And she follows us.
Cooper throws rocks and sand. He loves it. And it downright makes him giddy. If there aren’t people around I let him throw.
And my little shadow continues. “Why does he throw? Is he a bad kid? Why is he weird? Why doesn’t he understand us?”
I was fuming. And sad. And hurt. I just wanted her to leave me alone. Cooper is Cooper. He likes to throw. And flap. And screech as he throws.
I contemplated telling her to leave us alone. I looked around hoping to catch her parents eyes. No go. I was stuck there. Cooper had no desire to go and he shouldn’t have to go. He was happy.
For the next 15 minutes or so she hovered like a mom and told me all the things he was doing wrong. Ugh. It was too much.
I sorta chuckled when she finally left us. And thanked God. She was pretty tough on Cooper. Tougher than I have ever been.
Just this morning at my daughter’s school, my daughter and her classmates were practicing their dance for a program and she was THE ONLY ONE who was not participating. All the kids (2-4yo) were listening to the instructions of the teacher but my kid just wouldn’t. She was walking around/running around and kept following the assistant (male) but he was busy operating the sound system. Then a mom of my daughter classmate suddenly said “She is very dependent on the assistant even inside the classroom, maybe her father doesn’t spend a lot of time with her.” Ugh! I so wanted to go and bitchslap her!
I would have killed that woman!!! You are a saint lady.
Cooper is still a baby! Right? He’s about 3 now if I remember correctly. I still think of my almost 5 year old as a baby still. My oldest choose the baby swing until he was ridiculously too big for it. Just be thankful the girl was more curious than anything and left you alone. Cooper will be with similar children when school starts and you won’t have to deal with little girls like that. I had the “joy” of lunch aiding my 6 year old first grade class once a week last year and some of the kids were brutal to him. He’s the youngest in the class, has ADHD, and several delays. He gets pulled out for services and I guess the kids pick up on him being behind. They would tell me to my face he was “annoying”! And tease him right in front of me! Now try holding a professional composure in that situation! It was tough but thankfully my son has enough confidence that he would ignore them and play with his real friends.
Yup, he’s 3.5 and is totally my baby too!! I love this comment!
Obviously the parents of that girl haven’t taught her that everyone is different, and hopefully Cooper was able to show her that!
uggh Where was that girl’s parents? : (
I have no idea. She was the cutest dang thing but towards the end I couldn’t take it anymore!!!
I agree! She was the cutest thing but a total busy body:_)
Kids can be so mean to other kids 🙂 And there are these annoying ones… that think they know everything. I blame the parents, they should have been near the little girl and made her stop with all her questions….Copper should be able to sit in the baby swing until he fits in it 🙂 It is nobody’s business… I got mad at a little girl also not so long ago at the playground. She was around 2, and went up to BB#2 and pushed him. He is still walking around like a drunken sailor so he couldn’t keep his balance and he fell flat on his face and his forehead got scrathed and it was bleeding 🙁 I got so mad, I called the little girl a b…tch… (at least not to her face, but later) I know she is too young and maybe it was an accident but I still felt so bad, that other kids can harm my baby 🙁